Blood of the Spouse, Willingly Given
by Zikare
Summary: Sequel to Blood of the Enemy, Forcibly Taken. Picks up at Draco & Harry's wedding. Happily ever after interrupted by Lucius's diagnosis w/ life threatening illness. Lucius recovers but looming trial, a toddler to take care of, & second pregnancy strain the new marriage. Misunderstandings ensue. Harry asks for a divorce but takes it back. Draco's fed up & demands Harry change. Mpreg
1. Chapter 1

Full Summary: Sequel to Blood of the Enemy, Forcibly Taken. Picks up at Harry and Draco's wedding, but the newlyweds aren't in for a happily ever after just yet. Between the fact that they're new parents with a baby to look after and the drama with Lucius' upcoming trial and serious illness, there is a lot of turbulence in their lives. Add in a few arguments and misunderstandings and Harry wants a divorce, but changes his mind when he finds out that Draco is pregnant again. Draco isn't willing to forgive so quickly, sick of Harry jumping to conclusions and assuming the worst when it comes to him and his friends and family. Draco sets Harry two tasks to win him back: show that he's changed and get Lucius released. Can Harry succeed? Will he win Draco and his family back?

Warning: slash, mpreg, and contemplation of divorce.

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It was the letter taped onto the mirror above the dresser that made up Harry's mind. He liked to get up and look out the window in the morning, especially if it was one of those rare sunny days; it gave him inspiration to get through his day. Draco, on the other hand, got up and looked at that letter first thing in the morning, every morning.

Harry remembered how hard life had been for Draco in the days after their daughter was born. Draco was emotional and tired, going on four hours of sleep a night, but it was those letters that kept him going. When Draco couldn't take it anymore, he'd shut himself away and read those letters until he had the inspiration to keep going. The highlight of his day was when his mother came over and delivered a new letter from his father. No matter what was going on, the sight brought a smile to Draco's face. She'd visit Lucius in the morning and share the latest pictures of their granddaughter and return with a letter from her husband to her son. Draco obviously cherished each one, saving them and reading them over and over again.

Cissy was a life saver in those days. Harry had no idea how to take care of a newborn and couldn't even hold little Ipheion without fearing he'd drop her. Draco was better, but still a strung out new parent who couldn't handle it all on his own. Cissy had stepped in and picked up the slack, helping Harry care for his daughter so that Draco could rest. After a few weeks of lessons from Cissy, Harry had a much better handle on what to do. She helped him with Draco too, telling him what he could do to lighten Draco's load or cheer Draco up, so that the world didn't get to be too much for her son. That translated into Draco taking better care of the baby and less stress for Harry.

Lucius wasn't there, but he helped in the only way he could, with his letters and words. With Lucius' incarceration, Draco had taken to writing his father regularly; there were even a few visits after the charges against Draco were dropped. After the baby was born, Draco no longer had the time to write and when he did, he couldn't find the words. But that didn't matter, because day after day the letters came from Lucius with words of support and encouragement for Draco. Draco was visiting his father weekly now, but Cissy was visiting him daily. Cissy would visit Draco and then pass along to Lucius everything he needed to know to keep his writing pertinent.

There were times when Harry thought that Lucius' letters and Cissy's visits were the only things holding Draco together. Healer Smith called it postpartum depression and said it was normal, but labeling it didn't cure it. Only time, love, and support could do that. Eventually Draco did get better. Progress didn't come over night, but a little at a time. After a few months, he was back to his normal self. Part of it was because Ipheion was older now and only woke up once during the night, allowing Draco to sleep. The other part was that during the passage of time, his hormones had balanced out.

Draco was better these days, the baby wasn't so little, and their little family had blossomed. Harry was without a doubt in love with Draco now. Before it'd been lust, but after having a child together and watching Draco struggle to take care of her through his depression, Harry couldn't help but love him. The ordeal made Harry see just how strong and brave Draco was for getting through everything that has happened in the last few years. In hindsight he could see how hard it was for Draco to be in custody during his pregnancy. Everything in Draco's life had changed; he'd been faced with the reality of murder and torture and cowered, they'd lost the war, Voldemort was dead, his father was in a holding cell, and he was pregnant by his enemy. But even with all of that going on, Draco had still made the best of it. Draco had held it together, done what was best for the baby, and hadn't even caused Harry any trouble. Draco had even planned his own escape when the Death Eaters had kidnapped him. Somewhere along the way, Draco had grown up and turned into the type of man Harry wanted to be with; the type of man he could see spending the rest of his life with and the type he wanted to marry.

Harry asked Draco to marry him when their daughter was just three months old. They hadn't been dating for that long when he asked, but he loved Draco, they had a daughter together, and it was time. Draco had said yes, which three months later led Harry to his current predicament: picking Lucius Malfoy up from the Ministry Holding Facility, so that he could attend what was being dubbed, "The Wedding of the Century." Lucius was still in the Ministry holding cells, the last of the Death Eaters to be tried, his trial scheduled to start just one week after the wedding.

Lucius' trial was the main factor in choosing the date of the wedding. They didn't know how long the trial would last. Lucius' lawyer promised to have an outrageous number of witnesses and pieces or evidence to go over. The prosecutor personally told Harry that he had just as much evidence on the other side. It was pretty much guaranteed to be a long drawn out affair and not the type of thing to put one in the mood for a wedding, even if Lucius won. If Lucius lost, there was no telling what would happen to the wedding plans.

Having the wedding before the trial was Harry's idea. Draco had wanted to wait until after the trial, so that Lucius could be there to see them get married. Draco was of course assuming his father would get off and had no plans for how they'd arrange the wedding once Lucius was in Azkaban. Knowing Draco, he'd probably refuse to get married anywhere other than his father's cell, so that Lucius could be there. But before the trial, with Lucius only an accused Death Eater, not a convicted one, Harry could arrange a day pass for the event. Harry had to take responsibility for Lucius for the day and ensure the man didn't escape, but it was better than the alternative.

Once they had agreed to have it before the trial, Draco's first suggestion for the venue had been the Ministry for Magic, the Auror department specifically. That was where the interrogation rooms were located and where they'd been visiting Lucius of late. It was Harry's doing, because Cissy had been about to take Draco and their barely one week old baby to the Ministry holding cells for a visit. After the charges against Draco had been dropped and his house arrest removed, he'd started visiting his father again. It was only natural that he'd want to visit with his daughter to show her off.

Harry had absolutely forbid the visit, which didn't go over too well with Draco in the fragile state he'd been in. Legally, Draco was free and according to the document Harry had signed, had full custody of their daughter. Harry hadn't wanted to take the baby away from Draco and was happy to sign the agreement guaranteeing him visitation rights every weekend. Of course they were dating, which meant he got to see his daughter all of the time, but they weren't married, so legally Draco had full custody.

Draco was free to take their daughter wherever he wanted, even if that was to visit an inmate in jail. Draco flat out said that Harry would have to sue for full custody to stop him. Harry didn't want to do that and had eventually come up with a compromise: he had Lucius moved to an interrogation room in the Auror department and brought his boyfriend and daughter into work with him. Draco and Ipheion met with Lucius in a more comfortable environment without the oppressive atmosphere of the jail.

The visits were a weekly occurrence and always cheered Draco up. But Harry didn't want to get married there in the Ministry during one of those visits. Thus he'd arranged with his bosses Shacklebolt and Robards to sign Lucius out for the day. Shacklebolt was actually one of the wizards Harry was enlisting to help him with Lucius, because Lucius had to be guarded and watched at all times. Ron, Arthur, and Bill Weasley were the others who had agreed to help with the task.

The Weasleys were all invited to the wedding, as Harry's guests, so also employing some of them to guard Lucius was expedient. There were any number of volunteer Aurors who offered their services for the day, but it was to be a small wedding and each and every seat was reserved for someone of importance. Draco had wanted a large wedding, but Harry had wanted a small one, so they'd compromised on fifty people. Harry had given his twenty seats to all of his friends and favorite Weasleys, while with only thirty seats, Draco had had to turn away all family members who were more distant than second cousin. The only friends Draco had invited were in their wedding party. The venue was large enough to hold more people, but they'd agreed on fifty and were sticking to it, because they wanted it small, cozy, and personal.

After much debate, they'd gone with Leeds Castle in Kent as their venue. Draco's Ministry suggestion was taken off the table when Harry arranged for the day pass for Lucius. Harry had countered with the Burrow, to which Draco had responded with a look of incredulity, before insisting that he wasn't having a Weasley wedding. Draco had countered with Malfoy Manor, which happened to be one of a handful of places they were not authorized to take Lucius under the day pass. Harry had countered with Hogwarts, since it was summer and school was out. Draco had offered Leeds in return.

The Malfoy family had a summer cottage in Maidstone, near the castle. They went there on holidays every year and Draco had fond memories of the place. It was close enough to London that Lucius could continue to work, had a village filled with middle-aged pureblood witches for Cissy to have tea with, and was a veritable paradise for Draco to enjoy. Their cottage was right along the river, which led to the lake and moat surrounding Leeds Castle. And the castle had been set up for wizard weddings for hundreds of years.

Leeds' was a smaller castle than Hogwarts, but it was a thread of the same cloth. It was on an island in a man-made lake, or large moat just off of the river Medway and the Great Water Lake. There was a lawn down by the lake on the other side of the moat, which had a perfect view of the water and the castle. Best of all, the water bank was covered in ivory colored Narcissus flowers. Then there was the castle, which held the formal dining room where they'd had the rehearsal dinner and the banquet room, where the reception was to be held.

When the castle wasn't being used for weddings, it was a popular tourist destination, with posh hotel rooms on the upper floors. There were a number of rooms set up to house a country club, full of activities for wizards on holiday, including a standard auditorium, for plays, comedy, and various other shows, along with gym, spa, bar, restaurant, and game room. There was even a museum inside and a golf-course outside. Swimming and fishing were allowed in the lake and were always popular in the summer. There was a maze and grotto outside, which a teenaged Draco had loved to explore on holiday.

As a boy, Draco had frequented the castle country club and seen extravagant weddings held there. He'd always thought that he wanted his wedding to be like that. Of course he'd planned for it to be in the garden at Malfoy Manor, where all Malfoy weddings were held, but his ancestral home was off the table. The castle was an obvious second choice and Harry had been sold on it just from Draco's passionate description of the place. In Harry's eyes, the only mark against the castle was that it wasn't simple enough.

The wedding theme was simple extravagance. They arrived at it by each putting forth one word they wanted to describe their dream wedding. Which wizard had put forth which term was blatantly obvious and no one had asked for further explanation. Instead they'd just admired the understated expense of it all. Draco tended to go big, but Harry was the perfect balance, pulling Draco back into a more manageable wedding. There was one simple bouquet of expensive ivory colored flowers, along with the ivory colored Narcissuses growing beside the lake and that was it for flowers. Everything else was plain black, except for a few specific things they'd agreed to splurge on.

The wedding was all arranged and it was sure to be the perfect combination of understated class. The only thing that could possibly go wrong was Lucius. Harry worried that Lucius had been lying about being okay with the wedding and only pretending to be supportive. It was rather unbelievable that the same Lucius Malfoy who had so eagerly stood by Voldemort's side as his master attempted to murder Harry, was the same man who didn't have a problem with his son marrying Harry Potter. But it was true.

Above all else, Lucius Malfoy was a loving father who wanted the best for his son; that much was clear. Draco wanted to marry Harry and Lucius wanted Draco to be happy, so he was okay with the marriage. He'd accepted their daughter with open arms, having every intention of being a doting grandfather. He'd cringed at hearing her last name, because he would've preferred her to be a Malfoy, but he understood why Draco had done it. He'd rather the little princess was named Ipheion Linnaea Malfoy, but he held his tongue, for his son's sake. And he'd written all of those letters, expressing his love and support.

The most inspirational of Lucius' letters was the one he'd written in response to hearing of Harry and Draco's engagement. Harry hadn't bothered asking for Lucius' permission to marry Draco, as was tradition, because he didn't think he needed it. Draco said yes, but would've preferred if Harry had asked Lucius, as was protocol. Draco worried and fretted all night, when he should've been celebrating, because he didn't know what his father would say. Cissy had told Lucius the next morning and come back with the letter that Draco had taped to his bedroom mirror above the dresser and looked at every morning for the last three months. It was Lucius' words that made up Harry's mind to go through the hassle of arranging for the man to attend the wedding, instead of trying to convince Draco that he didn't need his father there.

In the letter, Lucius had given Draco his blessing to marry Harry. He wrote that it was a good match and would make the Malfoy family proud. It was a fertile pairing that had already produced one wonderful child and he wished them another child, along with all of the love and happiness in the world. He'd called Harry a good man, worthy of marrying his son and capable of supporting their little family. He'd even apologized for his actions again. It was a beautiful and moving letter.

Lucius had apologized to Harry in person. It was the first thing he'd done after greeting his son and granddaughter during that first visit in Auror Headquarters. He repented his actions as a Death Eater, claimed he hadn't realized just how demented the Dark Lord was, and wished he'd never supported the evil lunatic. Then again, everyone was saying that now that the war was over. It was time to turn sides and the Malfoys were notorious for always ending up on the right side. Even so, Harry believed Lucius, because of the way in which the man spoke of what the Dark Lord had done to Draco.

Impregnating Draco against his will as a punishment was reprehensible to Lucius and he claimed that in retaliation, he started slipping privileged information to the Aurors. Back when he had his wand, he'd imperiused one of the Aurors who'd refused to work for Voldemort. At first he'd done it to get inside information on the Aurors, to aid in the Dark Lord's take down of the Ministry. Then he'd done it to aid in the Death Eater control of the Aurors. However, toward the end, he'd used that Auror to pass top-secret information on the Dark Lord and his fellow Death Eaters to the Aurors who were still on the loose, working for the Order of the Phoenix.

Add in that Lucius hadn't had a wand since before the battle of the seven Potters and hadn't fought in a battle since the Department of Mysteries and he was hopeful for a favorable outcome at trial. On the other hand, he'd admitted to using two of the three unforgivables and was suspected of using the third, which did not bode in his favor. But then it was a war and not a cut and dry case; it'd take a trial to decide what to do with him and a long one at that.

Sometimes Harry thought that Lucius was only being so supportive because of his looming trial. He worried that Lucius would change his mind and take back his approval. Maybe Lucius could hold his tongue about the baby's last name, but would he be able to do the same during the wedding? Saying that you're alright with something and _actually being alright_ with it are too different things. Once it's actually happening, Lucius could suddenly realize how awful it is for his heir to be married to a Potter.

Harry really hoped that a blowup from Lucius wasn't in store for them. Draco would be devastated and might call off the wedding, if something happened before their vows were said. Harry had nightmares the night before that when the druid asked, "Is there any reason why these two should not be wed," Lucius would stand up and object. Lucius would claim that Harry wasn't worthy of his son and that Harry was a no class orphan raised by muggles.

Then Harry had woken up and been faced with nothing more sinister than an empty bed, because Draco hadn't wanted them to see each other before the wedding. Draco and the baby had stayed with his mother for the night and they would meet Harry at the castle. Harry was left with the tasks of getting himself dressed, making sure his groom's mates Ron and Hermione were dressed properly, and picking Lucius up.

Harry's robes were classic ivory, trimmed with black and paired with a black on black filigree vest. They were tailored, but made out of the type of fabric that was advertised to withstand three year olds with ice cream cones. Ron and Hermione, who made up Harry's half of the wedding party, had outfits made out of the same ivory fabric. With a gay wedding, there were no bridesmaids and groomsmen. Instead they each had friends of either sex stand up for them, unifying them by wearing the same color fabric.

Hermione looked gorgeous in her understated ivory pantsuit; she'd forgone the dress, so that no one confused her with the bride. Ron's ivory and black dress robes were similar to Harry's, but with a more professional business man cut to them. When the time came to go, they assured him that they would check that everything was set up perfectly at the castle and he'd gone along to the Ministry for Lucius.

It was an evening wedding, so the place should've been deserted, but every Auror was waiting in headquarters to get a peek at Harry before the big event. They swarmed him, wishing him well and some of them even asking again if they could go. Draco would've loved to invite them all, but Harry had wanted to keep it small. He had no problem telling his colleagues no and he did so again now.

Bill and Arthur Weasley were waiting with Kingsley Shacklebolt and Gawain Robards for Harry. Lucius was already checked out of the holding cells and waiting in the interrogation room. It was a mere formality, because Kingsley or Arthur could've done it all, but Ministry policy stated that it had to be the one who made the request. Harry had made the request, so he had to sign the appropriate forms and cast the spell binding Lucius to him, as his captive.

Harry did as instructed and side-along apparated his soon-to-be father-in-law to the lawn where the wedding was to be held. Bill, Arthur, and Kingsley followed after. Then there were spells to bind Lucius to the grounds and another to bind him to his chair, for good measure. Bill, Arthur, and Kingsley were stationed around Lucius, watching his every move. They all had enough experience to be well-qualified for the task. They were attendees of the wedding and as such a certain amount of mingling was required, but they did it in turns, with one or two of them by Lucius' side at all times.

Lucius seemed eager and excited during the brief time Harry spent transporting him. He was walking a bit slow, shuffling his feet with a bit of a limp, but then he was an old man now and his cane had been taken away. Lucius had wished him luck and he had other things to do, so he left the man in good hands.

The sun setting behind the castle blinded Harry for a moment as he walked toward his pavilion. The conjured lights were just coming on and he followed the string of them until he reached his destination.

Harry knew their wedding had to be at night the moment he saw the castle after the sunset. Draco had suggested they take the baby and have a picnic supper by the lake, so that Harry could fall in love with the place the way that Draco had. They'd stayed and watched the beautiful sunset. It was a particularly pleasant, warm late spring day and Ipheion had fallen asleep for her evening nap. They'd stayed longer, enjoying the feel of each other's arms and sensual kisses. It had gotten dark and the stars had come out, amplified by the ancient spell on the sky; it'd been beautiful.

Chief among Harry's pre-wedding concerns was his daughter, Ipheion, or Eiona as he called her. She was six months old, which was not the best age for a flower girl at a wedding. But she was their princess and they'd both agreed she had to be their flower girl. The dress Draco had picked out was the most expensive fairy princess dress he could find for a six month old. It cost a fortune, but that was one expense Harry didn't try to talk Draco out of, because their daughter just looked so adorable in it.

Harry found his daughter safely ensconced in Molly Weasley's arms. They were waiting in the pavilion set up for Harry's side of the wedding party, on the right side of the lawn.

"Oh Harry dear, there you are. Thank goodness. Did you get Lucius? Everything on this side is set," Molly said, rushing through her sentences too quickly in her excitement. Eiona recognized Harry and went from contently leaning her head against Molly's ample bosom to reaching out for Harry.

"Here, let me take her. I haven't seen her since last night," Harry said, taking his baby. Eiona cooed in delight and grabbed onto his robes, but he didn't care about the wrinkles. Draco had put a wrinkle-free charm on them, along with the stain resistant charms that were already imbibed in the fabric. "Yes, Lucius is in place. Arthur, Bill, and Kingsley are on him. Did you see Ron and Hermione?"

"Yes. Ron went in to check on the house elves and ensure the catering is set. Hermione's speaking with Druid Caomhánach, going over last minute details."

"Great. Do you know how Draco's doing? How are things going on his side?"

"Oh Draco just looked so happy and excited. This is the biggest day of his life and he was aiming to be ready for it. You wouldn't believe the amount of primping and preening that was going on over there! I'm sure you'll appreciate it come tonight, dear, but all the same, I rescued Eiona here from the midst of it."

"Thanks Molly. Are they going to be ready on time, do you think?" Harry asked around the fingers Eiona had shoved into his mouth.

"Yes, right on time. Oh come here!" Molly cried, taking Harry and the baby into a hug. Eiona squealed happily and Harry hugged back.

"Oi! There's a baby present! Save the Weasleyness for a more appropriate time!" Pansy Parkinson called, approaching them as if to save the baby from them. She was dressed as Draco's best-mate, in a short black dressed that showed a bit of cleavage. Harry thought it was nauseating, but that was mostly because it was Parkinson in it. He'd asked Draco why Pansy couldn't just wear the same pantsuit as Hermione, but in black. Draco had said it was because Pansy was his best-mate and therefore needed a different dress than the other female groom's mates. Hermione wasn't Harry's best-mate, because he'd chosen Ron for the honor.

Harry and Molly pulled apart, Molly red and flustered and Harry with a curse only held back by the fact that his baby was in his arms.

"What our dear Pansy is trying to say, is that Druid Caomhánach has _been_ ready and our dear Draco has finally finished his very _arduous_ and _time consuming_ dressing process," Blaise said, coming up behind Pansy. He was also dressed in the black of one of Draco's groom's mates. His robes were the same cut and style as Ron's, only with an inverse coloration.

"Can I hold the baby or what?" Pansy asked.

"No. If we're ready to start, then she needs to get dressed," Harry replied, clutching his daughter to his chest.

"I've got the dress right here," Molly said, holding up the bag with the dress.

Hermione and Ron approached then, to report that everything was on schedule and that yes, these house elves had the option of being paid wages or being set free, if they so desired. None of them desired, but so long as they knew it was offered, that was the best they could do.

Harry and Molly quickly changed the baby right there. Eiona already had on the correct shoes, socks, and undershirt to go with the poufy ivory colored dress, so all they had to do was slip the dress over her head. While they worked, Pansy and Blaise exchanged strained courtesies with Ron and Hermione. Then they were ready and Pansy and Blaise went back to their own camp on Draco's side of the lawn.

At sixth months old, Eiona was a gorgeous baby and looked stunning in the dress. She had a bit of baby chubbiness, but was on the slender side for her height. Her blond hair was five inches long. Like Harry, she had a cow-lick, but the texture was like Draco's, meaning that it recovered from the cowlick and mostly flowed in the correct direction. Normally they put it into a ponytail on the top of her head, but for today she had a small French braid wrapped around the front, with the rest combed back. The cowlick was causing problems and stuck a few hairs up out of place. Harry put them back into place with a sticking charm; that was something he was good at now, because the cowlick drove Draco crazy and the spell only held for a few hours.

Eiona's nose was still buttoned shaped, but her eyes were greener now. There was a thin ring of blue on the outside, but they were mostly green. Her face was leaner, drawing attention to the perfect little Malfoy features. For the most part, she had Draco's bone structure, but with Harry's coloring. There were a few exceptions, like the lips and ears' being Harry's, the brow being Lily's, the hair as golden as Cissy's, and the eyebrows being Draco's. She was the perfect mix of Draco and Harry, which was one of the things Harry loved about her.

Dromeda approached with Teddy as Molly and Harry were working. Teddy was already dressed in his little black robes; since Eiona was in Harry's color, Teddy was in Draco's color. At fifteen months old, Teddy walked steadily on his feet. He wasn't old enough to actually trust with the rings, but he bore the title of ring-bearer just the same. In fact, they were counting on him to make sure Eiona made it down the aisle. There was an entire bowl of the rice snack that Teddy loved set out for him to mark his spot. Cissy, Dromeda, and Molly had taken Teddy and Eiona out to practice the trip every day for the last two weeks and they thought they had Teddy pretty well trained to head for the snacks.

With his side of the wedding party ready, they approached the seating area. Dromeda handed Teddy over to Hermione so that she and Molly could take their seats with the rest of the guests. The guests were all there and every one of the fifty chairs lined up on the lawn was filled. Cissy had taken the one free seat next to Lucius, with Arthur, Bill, and Kingsley in the other three seats surrounding the man. Cissy's parents, Cygnus and Druella Black, were on her other side, followed by Grandmother Smith and so on.

The music started, so Harry put Eiona into her magical walker, which would carry her and her basket of petals down the aisle. Hermione set Teddy behind the walker and he grabbed onto the seat, as practiced. Eiona wasn't old enough to do her job properly, since she couldn't walk yet. The plan was for Teddy to guide her and the walker to the snacks, while she threw the petals. The last thing Harry did before letting them off on cue was to place his daughter's hand in the basket of flowers. She was supposed to throw them, but all she did was eat a few of them and slobber on the rest. She was teething, so the drool ran down her chin, leaking onto her dress. The guests all cooed and awed as Teddy did his part and the adorable pair made it to the snacks. Teddy was a friendly baby and he was nice enough to deposit a toddler sized handful of snacks onto Eiona's tray to share. She squealed and picked one up, munching happily.

After the babies went, Millicent Bulstrode entered from the left as the first of Draco's groom's mates. She was wearing the pantsuit Parkinson should've wore; the black version of Hermione's outfit. Hermione went next, entering from the right as the first of Harry's mates. Then it was Blaise Zabini's turn, followed by Ron, and finished up by Pansy Parkinson. Then it was Harry and Draco's turn. Lucius was there, so they could've had Draco's father walk him down the aisle if they'd wanted too, but they didn't. Draco didn't want to be the bride any more than Harry did. They were to come in at the same time, from opposing sides of the lake, and meet under the arch.

Harry started forward on cue, walking in front of their friends and family, with the castle and the lake in the background and the starry sky overhead. He could see where he was going, thanks to the conjured lights lining the aisles and illuminating the arch. Their groom's mates were standing on either side of the arch, with Teddy and Eiona still munching happily on the snacks. The stars overhead weren't overshadowed by the subtle lighting, thanks to an ancient charm of the sky.

And then Harry could see Draco walking towards him, from the other side. Draco's dress robes were black, trimmed with ivory and paired with an ivory vest with a textured filigree pattern in the same ivory. They were tailored to a T, fitting Draco's body perfectly, and made from the type of fabric that cost so much money that Harry was afraid to sneeze in the vicinity. Draco looked stunning and took Harry's breath away. They met under the arch, just behind the babies, Draco reaching out his hand for Harry's.

Druid Caomhánach stood behind them on a platform, beside the one oak tree on the lawn, ready to start. He had a thick gold chain around his neck and a crown of mistletoe around his head. He was dressed in white robes that billowed out as he spoke of love, marriage, and family and blathered on about peace, power, elements, seasons, and blood purity. The blood purity bit was greatly reduced from what it'd originally been, at Harry's previous request.

Druid Caomhánach wasn't Harry's choice of officiator, but he was passible. Harry didn't particularly care for ministers, after Dumbledore's funeral and the minister's worthless eulogy and the minister at Bill and Fleur's wedding wasn't much better. Luckily Draco had a preference, so they'd gone with the Malfoy family's usual druid. The Malfoys had converted to the ancient pureblood version of the Celtic religion upon immigrating to England over a thousand years ago. The snootiest of the purebloods all followed that religion, while the Weasleys followed the magical variant of the Church of England. Harry preferred the Church of England, but only because it was more familiar; he didn't particularly care about religion and was therefore willing to go with Draco's.

Due to their ring bearer's diminutive age, Blaise had the rings. There was a whole pre-ceremony process, Harry knew, of the druid blessing the rings, which was probably what Draco had been doing while Molly was watching the baby. Blaise handed the wand over to Draco now, his hand over the rings. Harry reached out and placed his hand over Draco's and the druid led them through their vows. They were different from the muggle ones, but Harry didn't stumble through them, thanks to a bit of practice. Harry took a ring and placed it onto Draco's ring finger, Draco did the same in return to Harry, and then there was the kiss.

Kissing Draco Malfoy, soon to be Potter, was hot, fiery, and passionate. Harry kissed back, slipping his tongue inside Draco's mouth and dominating the kiss. There were woots, cheers, and clapping from the crowd; even a whiz-bang set off by George. Teddy joined in the ruckus, clapping his hands, but Eiona started crying from all the noise. Draco pulled away first, to retrieve their daughter. Teddy looked lost, suddenly by himself and lifted his arms, to indicate he wanted to be picked up too. Harry obliged and they finished the ceremony with the children in their arms. They stood there, a smiling, happy family, while their guests formed a line to greet them.

Lucius, with Cissy on one arm and Kingsley on the other, was last up. Lucius and Cissy both hugged Draco and shook hands with Harry, while Kingsley shook hands with both of them.

"Draco, we are so proud of you son, congratulations," Lucius said. His speech was slurred slightly and Harry wondered who had given the man alcohol. Cissy probably gave it to him to help him get through the ceremony without objecting.

"Thank you," Draco replied, teary eyed.

Harry thanked his in-laws as well and then it was time to move indoors for the reception. Ron dislodged Cissy by Lucius' side for the journey. Cissy took Eiona from Draco, while Dromeda came forward to retrieve Teddy. Draco and Harry walked, arm and arm, across the lawn and over the drawbridge with their closest family and friends behind them.

They entered a long, cavernous room with two long tables running down the middle. The tablecloths were black, the napkins and china ivory, and the utensils antique silver. There were single fancy ivory colored candles arranged two feet apart along the middle of each table, but no more. There were tapestries on the stone walls, but they were the standard ones that came with the room. Each seat had a little name card on it, aiding them in finding their pre-arranged seats. Harry and Draco were in the middle, of course, with their wedding party and Draco's parents surrounding them. Harry's guests, since they were of the lesser number, were at the main table, while Draco's family had the other table to themselves.

The elf-cooked meal was delicious. Harry fed Eiona a bit of the pumpkin soup, which was how he ended up with soup all over his ivory robes. The soup came clean off with a scouring charm, thanks to the stain-resistant fabric he'd chosen. He also got lamb sauce on the cuffs of his sleeves, but that was his own fault; it came away clean too. He was in pristine condition once more as the food was cleared away and the music started. The room was meant to seat four times as many guests as they had, so their tables only took up a fraction of the space; the other side was left open for dancing.  
Harry was incredibly nervous and Draco took his hand for the first dance. It was an old pureblood waltz and Harry still wasn't a great dancer. But Draco had started teaching him the steps months ago, not long after they got engaged, and they had practiced regularly. Harry would never be described as graceful on the dance floor, due to his two left feet, but he was proficient. He didn't trip Draco up as his husband led him through the steps. Somehow the fact that it was his husband leading him in this dance made it magical and a warm fuzzy feeling settled in his stomach. That feeling was broken as soon as Cissy and Lucius stepped in.

It was custom that the parents are the first to dance with the grooms. Since Harry's parents were dead, that left Lucius to dance with Draco and Cissy took Harry. Harry tried to continue on with the dance, but his footsteps fumbled. Cissy, it seemed, was used to being led on the dance floor. It took her a minute to adjust to the leading role, once she realized Harry wasn't up to the task. Lucius appeared absolutely plastered, if his footwork was anything to judge by, so he and Draco weren't any better.

"You look absolutely radiant tonight Harry. I'm glad you are my son-in-law now and I know you'll make my Draco very happy," Cissy said.

Harry thanked the woman and looked over at his husband, just in time to see Lucius trip and fall. Draco caught his father, stopping the man from landing on his face, but their dance was over. Ron and Arthur stepped in, pulling Lucius off of the dance floor and back to his seat at the table and Cissy followed after, concerned. Draco's grandmother, Druella Black, took Lucius' place with Draco, while Hermione stepped in and took Harry's hand, taking the lead.

"I didn't notice Lucius drinking anything and the alcohol hasn't even been served yet," Hermione commented as they waltzed around the room. They looked like a pair of toddlers next to the graceful Malfoys.

"I didn't either, but he was drunk already at the end of the ceremony. I figured Cissy gave it to him," Harry replied, trying to keep in step with Hermione, but that was harder to do than with Draco.

"Possibly. I guess after spending the last fifteen months locked up, he wanted to use his one last taste of freedom to get plastered." Hermione was of the opinion that justice had to prevail and that meant Lucius spending the rest of his life in Azkaban. Harry had forbidden her from discussing said view within hearing range of Draco, not because he necessarily disagreed with her, but because it would upset Draco. Personally he was glad the decision wasn't up to him, because he wanted both for Draco to be happy and for Lucius to be punished.

After Hermione, it was Dromeda who stepped in to take Harry's hand. "You look dashing tonight," Dromeda complimented him, while leading.

"Thank you. How many dances am I expected to do? Surely four is enough," Harry replied.

"You and Draco are expected to dance with all of your guests."

"Merlin, no. I'll let Draco dance with them all, while I go sit down."

Dromeda steered them back towards the tables and Harry retook his seat. Lucius was a few seats away, being watched by Ron and Arthur now. Cissy was back on the dance floor, along with Kingsley, and Bill. Molly was sitting on the other side of Harry's table with her granddaughter Victoire. Bill and Fleur's first born was less than two months old, with strawberry blond peach fuzz on the top of her head. Bill and Fleur were taking a spin out on the dance floor.

Harry considered joining Molly, to be away from Lucius, but then he decided that what he should be doing was to give his father-in-law a piece of his mind. Thankfully, Luna Lovegood saved him from making that mistake, by choosing that moment to plop down next to Harry. Somehow she'd gotten Teddy, who reached out for Harry, so she handed the toddler over.

"It's best to hold your tongue when it comes to in-laws, Harry," Luna said sagely.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Still, the nerve of him to be so plastered at his own son's wedding!" Harry exclaimed. Luckily the music was loud, so it was unlikely that Lucius could hear him in the noisy room.

"I don't think he is drunk, Harry. The nargles told me that he's sick. The wackspurts won't even go near him."

Harry decided it was best to change the subject. He looked down at Teddy, who was squirming in his lap. "You were brilliant today, little man. Give me a high five." He put his hand up and then used his other to guide the toddler's hand to his. "Good job. You're getting so big; I wish your mummy and daddy were here to see you."

"They can see him Harry," Luna said.

Neville came up then and whisked Luna away to dance with him, so Harry took Teddy and sat down next to Molly. Fleur joined them, having acquired Eiona. They did a bit of musical chairs, with Harry taking Eiona, Molly passing Victoire to Fleur, and Molly taking Teddy from Harry. The three adults talked about babies and weddings and watched the other party goers dance.

Draco looked graceful on the dance floor, dancing with yet another of his many relatives. "Your father looks dashing, don't you think?" Harry asked Eiona.

Eiona replied with a happy sounding squeal and Teddy agreed.

"You should cut back in Harry. I'm sure there are dozens of people who would like a chance at holding your little princess," Molly said.

"That's the problem: I don't exactly trust all of those pureblood witches," Harry replied, holding Eiona tighter to his chest.

"I'm sure she'd be safe; they wouldn't hurt Draco's child," Molly reassured him and Fleur agreed.

Harry resisted for a while, but when the last dance was called, he handed Eiona over to Cissy and shared one last dance with his husband. Then it was time for the cutting of the cake. It was a pumpkin cake covered in smooth ivory frosting and icing flowers. Harry had fun deliberately putting a bit of frosting on Draco's nose and everyone laughed to see the usually pristine wizard messy for once. Harry kissed it off and then it was Draco's turn.

Draco leaned in with the plate in one hand and the fork in the other and said, "You know Harry, I should really get you back for that, but I'm not going to. I'm going to show you how to eat properly for once." And then Draco expertly maneuvered the fork with the bite of cake into Harry's mouth. It was sweet and rich and he licked his lips.

They all moved back to their seats at the table for cake, champagne, and toasts. Ron's speech was short and got a laugh in response to his obvious lack of eloquence. Blaise got up and said that he always knew they'd end up together, with the way they went after each other in school. Hermione's speech was witty and eloquent, asserting that they were going to have a long and happy life together. Pansy said that at the very least Harry would have a better dressed life, with Draco for a husband, before she told a cute story of how she and a twelve year old Draco had used to sit and talk about their future weddings. Of course back then she thought that they'd be marrying each other, which got a laugh, and she finished off with wishing them the best. Millicent simply wished them well.

Then they moved onto the toasts from their parents, with Arthur and Molly filling in for Harry's parents. They each gave lovely speeches about how Harry had come into their lives a scraggly little boy and now he was a man with a beautiful new family. Then it was Cissy's turn, who spoke of the struggles her son had had wooing a clueless Harry. Harry hadn't even been aware of Draco's attempted flirting before the failed first kiss, but Draco was nodding and laughing, so he supposed it must be true.

Last it was Lucius' turn to talk. Lucius seemed a bit wobbly standing up and Harry hoped Arthur and Ron hadn't let the man have any more alcohol.

"Congratulations Harry and Draco on a splendid marriage. I hope the two of you have a great many enjoyable years together. Your union has already produced one miracle, my wonderful granddaughter, and I wish you more equally perfect children. Children are the gift of life, each one a miracle that brightens our days. Draco, my son, you are the best thing your mother and I have ever done with our lives and you are the best son I could ever have wished for. I hope you and your new husband feel the same about your children when you are my age."

Up until this point, Lucius had been doing pretty well, only slurring a word here and there, but then he paused, reaching out to hold the table for support. Bill and Kingsley, who were guarding him now, rose up and caught Lucius just as he started to collapse, saving the man from winding up in his plate of cake. It was only another drunken stumble, because Lucius was recovering already, lowering himself back into his chair with the help of his guards.

Cissy had screamed, along with several other women; the older family members appearing especially concerned. Cissy rushed over to Lucius' side, dislodging Bill. She was yammering on about how Lucius was ill and needed to be taken to the emergency ward at St. Mungo's. "We need to get you tested," Cissy was saying.

"It's not that my dear; I'm fine, my leg just cramped up a bit. I haven't exactly been exercising in my cell," Lucius reassured his wife, his hand wrapped around the back of her head and his thumb caressing her cheek.

"Are you sure?" Cissy asked and Lucius nodded.

"He's not sick, Cissy, he's drunk," Harry said.

At the statement, all eyes turned from Lucius to Harry. Many people were nodding their heads, agreeing, while several of Draco's relatives looked outraged by the statement.

"Harry, Lucius hasn't been drinking," Arthur pointed out. "Everyone else had champagne, but Lucius and the children had sparkling apple juice."

"What? No, he's been wasted since the ceremony," Harry replied.

"Harry, the elves didn't even serve alcohol until we cut the cake," Draco said softly. He didn't seem mad at Harry, but stunned by the peculiar circumstances.

"But your mother was sitting with him; Cissy must've given it to him," Harry insisted.

"Harry, I didn't give him anything. We need to get him to hospital," Cissy replied.

"Lucius Malfoy, did you violate the terms of your release and consume an alcoholic beverage?" Kingsley asked sternly.

"No, it's nothing. It's just my bad leg acting up again," Lucius answered, again slurring.

"He should have a cane. Even if he can't have_ his_ cane, he needs a non-magical one," Cissy said. Lucius' cane had a number of ancient shield charms cast on it, being handed down from Malfoy to Malfoy for almost a thousand years, so it was one of a number of items he was not to be allowed.

Draco, Lucius, and a large number of guests on the Malfoy side all agreed with that statement.

"If you're not drunk Lucius, why are you talking like you are?" Harry asked.

"There's something wrong with my tongue. It's been bothering me off and on for a while now," Lucius replied, not sounding particularly sober.

"Yeah right," Harry replied.

"Harry, I think Lucius should be checked out at St. Mungo's. They can do a test for alcohol," Hermione said.

"No need, any Auror can do it," Ron said, before casting the spell.

Lucius' blood alcohol level was zero. Half the crowd gasped in surprise, while the other half insisted that Lucius needed to be seen by a healer.

"I think we better take him to St. Mungo's and have him checked out," Kingsley said.

Kingsley was the boss, so he got his way. Harry was responsible for Lucius at the moment, so he had to go with them. Lucius was Draco's father, so Draco was very concerned and insisted on going too. Cissy couldn't be kept away if they tried. Ron, Bill, and Arthur had all agreed to help watch Lucius, so they went as well. Some of the guests stayed and went back to partying, but for the most part, the wedding was over. Molly and Dromeda took charge of the children and Hermione took charge of kicking the stragglers out.

Once at the hospital, a few initial scans revealed that there was something seriously wrong with Lucius. They didn't yet know what, but it was enough to admit him for further tests. Harry kept thinking that Lucius must've done something to make himself ill to get out of his upcoming trial, but he didn't know what. What he did know was that his wedding night was shot and Draco was too concerned about his father to have sex. Harry was disappointed, because he'd really been looking forward to the night. Draco was a bloody brilliant fuck. It just wasn't fair that Harry had to spend his wedding night in St. Mungo's with Draco worrying about Lucius, instead of in bed where they belonged.

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Author's Note: Whew! I've finally gotten the sequel started! What did you think of the wedding? Of Lucius? He'll be the focus of the next few chapters as they figure out what's wrong with him. After Lucius is settled, the quarrels between Harry and Draco should start, so if you can think of anything trivial for them to argue about, let me know.

Please Review!


	2. Chapter 2

Draco insisted on staying the night with Lucius and Cissy in hospital. Cissy slept on the couch in Lucius' room, while two Aurors stood guard at all times. Draco wanted to camp out in the waiting room for family members, but one of the perks of being married to the Savior was special treatment; there was a free room right next to Lucius' and the nurse let Harry and Draco sleep there. Although, they didn't do much sleeping, because Draco stayed up worrying.

It was their wedding night and they had arranged for Cissy to watch the baby for the night, but Molly stepped in and took the baby in Cissy's place. The nappy bag was already packed with plenty of breast milk. Draco was a bit neurotic and over protective when it came to Eiona; he worried that something would happen to spill or spoil the first batch of milk, so he sent double and even had a few jaws of elf-made baby food. So Molly had more than enough milk and food for the baby to last an entire day.

When Saturday morning came around, it began to seem like Molly really would need to watch Eiona for an entire day. The nurses and healers were in and out of Lucius' room constantly running tests. They ran so many tests it was unbelievable. Of course they started with testing for less sever conditions and non-fatal ailments. There were a lot of them and they all had to be ruled out. Then they moved onto testing for fatal things, which were also numerous. On top of all of those tests, the healer refused to tell them what was going on until she was certain of the diagnosis.

Harry first got an inkling of what was wrong with his father-in-law Saturday night. Harry wanted to pick up Eiona and go home, since there was nothing they could do for Lucius right now, but Draco refused to leave, again. Instead Draco was using a spell to pump his breast milk into bottles to send to Molly's, which was something he had to do for every feeding he missed with their daughter.

"Draco, why can't we go home for the night and come back in the morning? You heard what the healers said: Lucius is stable, which means he's not going to die in the night, and they aren't ready to confirm a diagnosis. They won't meet with us again until tomorrow morning. Your mum and two Aurors are here watching him. Your mum can comfort him and the Aurors will protect him. There is absolutely nothing that can possibly go wrong while we're gone," Harry said, pleading with his husband.

"There's nothing that can happen, is there?" Draco asked sarcastically.

"No, there's not a thing that can go wrong."

"And what if my father commits suicide tonight?"

"What? Why would he do that?"

"His grandfather did. My great grandfather, Septimus Malfoy the second, left St. Mungo's and slashed open his neck. He bled out in seconds."

"Oh, I didn't know," Harry said, taking Draco into his arms comfortingly. "Why would he do such a thing?"

"He watched his father Lucian Malfoy dying a slow painful death, kept alive for decades with magic. Great Great Grandfather Lucian suffocated to death before I was born, but it was still a decade after his son killed himself. Septimus the second had the same horribly fatal disease as his father and couldn't bear to go through it. It was enough that his son, my grandfather Abraxas Malfoy was being left to raise my father and care for his grandfather; he didn't want his son to have to care for him too. I'm sure my father has the same thing."

"And what is that? What's wrong with him?"

"Motor neurone disease; he's of the age..." Draco revealed.

Harry gasped and hugged Draco tighter. "Isn't that fatal?"

"Yes, didn't I just say my great great grandfather died from it?"

"Yeah, but I mean like _really_ fatal. People with that don't last very long."

"Maybe in the muggle world, but we have magical treatments for it."

"Good; then there's something that can be done for your father."

"The treatments only prolong life and increase the quality of life; they aren't a cure. Meanwhile my father's a prisoner and thinks he's a useless costly drain on our family. He might try to kill himself at any moment, to spare us."

"He wouldn't do that. He knows you need him."

"As long as he thinks that I am better off without him, he might. There's a long family history of Malfoys with motor neurone disease, all the way back to the family founder, Armand Malfoy. That's why the title Lord Malfoy always comes with a cane. My great grandfather wasn't the only one to commit suicide."

"I'm so sorry Draco," Harry said, placing a gentle kiss to Draco's forehead. "How about I take this milk to Molly and check on Eiona. Then I'll come back here."

Draco gave a curt nod and replied, "Take more nappies and clothes."

It wasn't possible for one baby to go through all of the clothes and nappies Draco packed, but Harry agreed just the same. He stopped by Grimmauld Place, before apparating to the Burrow. Molly and Arthur were there in the living room, Eiona cradled in Molly's arms, fast asleep; Molly hadn't wanted to put her down.

"Oh Harry dear! There you are; we were so worried. How's Lucius?" Molly asked.

"They're still doing tests, but Draco thinks it motor neurone disease, which is fatal. It runs in the Malfoy family," Harry replied.

"Oh Harry!" Molly exclaimed.

Arthur rose from the chair, placing a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder. "Medicine has made a lot of progress in the last few decades; Lucius will have many years left and you don't even know for sure that that is what it is. It could be something less fatal," he said.

"They already ruled out all of the curable things," Harry said.

Arthur took Harry into a hug and said, "Son, it's going to be okay. You and Draco are going to get through this," before pulling back again.

"Thank you. I'm just so worried, because what if Draco has it? What if he gave it to Eiona?"

"They won't. They're fine, see," Molly said, standing up and passing a still sleeping Eiona to Harry.

It was comforting for Harry to hold Eiona again. She wasn't going to disappear because of Lucius' tainted blood. _Talk about impure blood_. That thought brought a smile to Harry's face and allowed him to hold back his tears. "How was she Molly? Was she alright without us?"

"She was fine. Hermione, Fleur, Andy, and Teddy all stopped by. She was so busy going from person to person and crawling after Teddy that she didn't even have time to miss you. Well she did miss Draco when I was putting her down to sleep and when I was feeding her; she was calling for him. It was so cute the way she says fa'er," Molly answered.

"Yeah, that is adorable," Harry agreed.

"Yes, she is," Molly agreed.

"You have a wonderful little family there Harry," Arthur said. "How is Draco doing?"

And so Harry relayed his earlier conversation with Draco about worrying that Lucius was going to commit suicide.

"Eventually Draco will have to leave the hospital and get on with life, but in the meantime you need to tell the Aurors that they need to be watching out for that. They're on alert for Lucius to attempt to escape or for on an attack from the outside by someone wanting revenge; they don't know to watch for a suicide attempt," Arthur said.

That was good advice and Harry resolved to take it as soon as he got back to St. Mungo's. He spent a bit more time with Eiona first, before going back home to shower and change. He retrieved toiletries and a change of clothes for Draco while he was at it, which Draco was very appreciative of when he got back to the hospital. Harry put the Aurors on suicide alert and he and Draco slept in the spare room again that night. They didn't get any news on Lucius until just before noon the next day.

"My tests confirm motor neurone disease," Healer Johnson informed them. He was a tall black man dressed in white healer robes and had an air of competency about him.

Cissy was there standing by Lucius' shoulder and at the proclamation, she turned and buried her face into Lucius' shoulder. Her sobs echoed off of the hospital walls.

Draco too turned to his spouse for support, clutching Harry tightly.

Harry held Draco as it was confirmed that Lucius hadn't been faking just to get his trial postponed. In all likelihood, Lucius had been hiding his symptoms from his family, so that they wouldn't worry about him. But now that Lucius was dying, it was possible that there would never even be a trial; the Ministry might not waste the money to put a dying man through the ordeal. Lucius might be allowed to live the rest of his numbered days in his hospital room in St. Mungo's, with his guards of course; Lucius still wouldn't be freed without a trial, no matter how sick he was.

"Now motor neurone disease isn't the death sentence it used to be. There is a lot of progress in the field. The treatment is still too new to know if the patient is permanently cured, but it has at least been sent into long term remission with several patients," Healer Johnson said.

"How?" Draco asked desperately clinging to the lifeline.

"By treatment with magical parasitic worms. It sounds improbable, but the particular form of motor neurone disease that is prevalent in purebloods has an auto-immune component. That means that the patient's own immune system attacks his neurons, speeding up the progression of the disease and sometimes triggering it in the first place. A few decades ago it was found that some purebloods had a parent and a child afflicted with auto-immune diseases, but were uninfected themselves."

"Like my father," Lucius interrupted.

"Yes, like," the healer flipped through the pages in his notes, "Abraxas Malfoy, who still hadn't contracted the disease when he died of Dragon Pox. It says here that he made invisibility cloaks, is that right?"

"Yes," Lucius confirmed. "The best in the wizarding world."

"He grew the ingredients for his potions himself, didn't he?" Healer Johnson asked.

"Yes," Lucius confirmed. "What does that have to do with it? He had to, in order to obtain the best quality."

"One ingredient in one of the potions needed to make invisibility cloaks is Flitterbloom roots. A link was found between witches and wizards and Flitterbloom. Those who keep it as a houseplant are only mildly protected from motor neurone disease, but those who harvest the roots almost never contract the disease; they contract the parasitic Flitterbloom nematode instead. The Flitterbloom nematode is a magical species of parasitic roundworms whose life cycle involves infecting Flitterbloom roots and humans. It's rather fascinating really and Flitterbloom nematode infection actually protects again auto-immune diseases. There have only been a handful of witches and wizards with motor neurone disease which have tried the nematode treatment, but in every case so far it has sent the disease into remission."

"Why would parasitic worms cure auto-immune diseases?" Draco asked.

"It has to do with what goes wrong in the body to cause auto-immune responses in the first place. Parasites are the key: the immune system expects to find parasitic Eukaryotes. It searches for them and if it cannot find them, it finds the next closest thing, which is the human body, and attacks. If you introduce the parasites, the immune system recalibrates itself and stops attacking the body. And the neat thing is that after the parasite infection is eliminated, the immune system retains the knowledge and continues to function normally. At least so long as it has been tested; like I said, this is a new treatment and we simply do not have case studies dating back more than a decade."

"Another decade with my family sounds amazing to me," Lucius said, his hand clasped comfortingly over Cissy's.

The treatment was not without risk, because they would be introducing a live and active parasite into an already ill wizard's body. The alternative was declining motor neuronal use until the muscles of the diaphragm gave out and suffocation followed. Lucius was adamant about which he preferred, so Healer Johnson went ahead with the treatment. It was an intensive six month course and absolutely forbade stressful events, such as trials, for the durations as well as the first six months afterwards. Even then a trial was not recommended and it was unknown what the stress would do to the remission, so Lucius' trial was postponed indefinitely.

Harry thought the Malfoys would've been happy with the trial postponement, but they weren't. All three of them were so convinced that they had enough evidence in Lucius' favor that he would be found not-guilty or be released on time-served. Harry didn't think it was nearly that cut-and-dry and hoped he never had to see Draco's heart broken by Lucius' conviction.

With the promise of a cure for Lucius, he was most assuredly not suicidal and promised his son as much. Draco went straight to Eiona, kissing his baby and telling her the good news, even though she was too little to understand. Harry went with Draco and thanked the Weasleys for watching her. Molly assured them that it was no problem at all and that Eiona was welcome back anytime.

They went home, doting on their princess to make up for the time they were away. But then that night when Eiona went to sleep, Draco jumped on Harry. They made love, finally consummating their marriage. It was much needed stress relief after spending two days in hospital, but it was also a slow and sensual expression of their love for each other.

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Author's Note: Next chapter will come the cure! Lucius illness is meant to be part of the backdrop for the main story, not the main story itself, so we'll jump ahead to when he's better :)

Please Review!


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: I delayed posting this in hopes that the formatting glitch on the AO3 website would be resolved. It hasn't, so I've decided to go ahead with posting anyway.

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Lucius got worse before he got better. He completely lost the use of both arms and was confined to his hospital bed for most of the day. When he wasn't in bed, he was strapped into his wheelchair, with thick black bands holding his limbs, torso, and even his head in place. The contraption seemed like over kill, but it was necessary to counteract the random flailing and muscle spasms he suffered from. It seemed that his entire body was affected, including his tongue, making his speech garbled and swallowing difficult.

Healer Johnson said that a little progression of the disease was normal and would've happened even if they'd done nothing. An increase of that progression was to be expected with the addition of the active parasitic infection. The body couldn't be expected to heal itself while it was combating a major secondary illness. Furthermore, the infection triggers a serious immune response, which was part of the problem in the first place, and was expected to send progression of the disease into hyper-drive; that is what they wanted to happen.

Four months in, when Lucius lost all control of his bowls and bladder and was being fed through a tube down his throat, Healer Johnson admitted that his patient was having a more exaggerated response than what was typical. They had only tested the treatment on a handful of patients with Lucius' particular disease. It was possible for the parasitic infection to behave differently in different people. Perhaps the innate magic of the previous patients had shielded them from the worst of it or they'd had some other trait that had protected them. Lucius had magic too, but his wasn't active in fighting off the infection or the genetic disease.

The parasite should've been dying off by now. Lucius had been given the anti-parasitic potion and his immune system ought to be recognizing the infection and clearing it away. There were signs that his immune system was actively doing something, but the infection wasn't dying down the way it should and parasites isolated from his system were still live and infectious, when they shouldn't be. Not even repeated doses of the standard parasite treatment potion seemed to have an effect. It was almost as if the parasites had developed a resistance to the medication.

Healer Peddell was brought in, working under the hypothesis that Lucius' mental state was affecting his ability to fight off the progression of the disease. She was a mind healer, who diagnosed Lucius as depressed. It was hard to believe that a Death Eater critically infected with a parasite and who happens to have a life-threatening genetic disease like Motor Neurone Disease wouldn't be depressed. None of these things could be changed, but Healer Peddell set out to change Lucius' outlook on it all, in the hopes that the placebo effect would do wonders.

Cissy Malfoy wasn't the type to take her husband's infirmary lying down. When she heard the potion wasn't curing the parasitic infection, she set out to find a potion master who would find an alternative cure. It was unusual for someone to have such a life-threatening case of that particular parasite, so there was only the one potion in common use as treatment. Potion Master Claxton tested a number of other anti-parasitic potions for activity against Lucius' parasite, but had little success. Then he went to the archives, pulling out recipes of old or antiquated treatments for diseases that were no longer an issue.

In one very dusty and very old leather tome on pages that were so deteriorated that each one had to be preserved before it could be read, Master Claxton found the description of a rare type of magical parasite afflicting Flitterbloom roots. It was related to the parasite Lucius was supposed to have been given and almost indistinguishable, except for the fact that the common cure had little to no effect on the rarer species. A potion had been developed to cure the infection caused by the rarer parasite and recorded in the tome, where it was then forgotten about as no one had contracted the disease for hundreds of years. Or at least no adult had, because the infection was asymptomatic in children and always dealt with effectively by the immune system.

Master Claxton found the only remaining record of the cure and was then set with the challenge of recreating it. The English language had changed so much from those times that it was like translating a recipe from a foreign language. Then there was the fact that the ingredients came from living species, which had evolved in the intervening years. Lacewing flies were less potent now, so more had to be added. Dragonfly venom was more potent, so less of that was needed. Worst of all, hazelnut-wheat had been banned and destroyed, due to the wide-spread allergic reactions it'd caused in house elves. The archaic variety of wheat had to be grown from preserved seed and harvested before the potion could be made. And all of it Master Claxton had to do on his own or with the help of the Malfoy family, because there was no one else willing to waste his time to save a Death Eater like Lucius Malfoy.

Eventually Claxton succeeded, Lucius was cured of the parasitic infected, Healer Johnson begrudgingly admitted to having given the wizard the wrong parasite, and Healer Peddell falsely took credit for Lucius' recovery.

In other news, Cissy Malfoy was not charged with punching Peddell in the nose, because her threat to sue Peddell for taking credit for Claxton's work was enough to cause Peddell to drop the charges. Cissy agreed not to file her suit, as long as Peddell went away and never took credit for the potion master's work again. Cissy, for her part, was entirely disillusioned with the whole system, having discovered that if she wanted her family saved, she would have to do it herself.

As soon as the parasite left Lucius' system, his body began to heal, and his symptoms began to disappear. He stopped twitching so much and regained the ability to swallow first. Then the adult nappies and catheter were removed. He regained full control of both arms and his speech improved, to the point where those closest to him could understand him again. By the one year mark, he showed remarkable signs of improvement with every indication that he would continue to get better.

After a very emotionally trying first year of marriage, Harry was really looking forward to his anniversary. One year ago today he and Draco had stood before the ancient castle, surrounded by their friends and family, and promised to love each other forever. That day was marred by Lucius' collapse, but he was recovering now and it was time to celebrate. They had made it through the darkness to the light at the end of the tunnel. From now on, they were going to have their happily ever after; Harry was sure of it.

The best part about the anniversary of a marriage, in Harry's opinion, was that he was guaranteed to get sex. Draco was a willing enough participant most of the time, but the fact that they had a child to think about got in the way. Draco was always busy, volunteering to watch Teddy, taking care of Eiona, or visiting his father in hospital. There was never time for a night, or even a few hours, of love making. It was always a spur of the moment thing when Eiona was down for a nap or Cissy had taken the child out for a walk. Draco would corner Harry, announce the amount of time they had and declare his sexual need. The passion would ensue, only to be cut short be their time constraints.

Tonight was going to be different. Eiona was having a sleep over with Teddy at Dromeda's house. Cissy was unavailable for the night, because it was also the anniversary of Lucius' diagnosis with a fatal disease and she wanted to be with her husband. But Dromeda was just as capable of watching a child and more than willing. Molly had even put in an offer to stop by Dromeda's to give a hand. So their daughter would be perfectly fine without her parents, freeing Harry and Draco up to make love all night.

Harry woke up that morning to Eiona climbing into bed with him and sitting on his stomach. He tried to remain asleep, wanting just a few more minutes, but she stuck her fingers in his nose. He sat up, pulling the tiny appendages out of his nostrils and said, "Eiona, it's not nice to stick your fingers in Daddy's nose."

"Daddy!" Eiona exclaimed happily.

"Alright Princess, what do you want? How did you get free?"

Eiona slept in a crib in the next room, so she couldn't have gotten loose unless Draco had let her go.

"Fa-er 'aye Daddy a 'appee!" The eighteen month old's speech was difficult to understand at the best of times. Harry had adapted by using his Auror training. He pretended it was the code of a dark wizard he was tracking. The base of the code was English, only most of the consonants had been removed, leaving the vowels. The occasional consonant was the rare clue needed to decode the message.

"Father sent you," Harry surmised.

Eiona clapped her hands together, but it didn't make much of a sound, because she held a handmade card. Harry pulled it away from her and smoothed out the parchment. The letters spelled out, "Happy First Anniversary!" in Draco's long graceful script, but were covered over with the crayon scribbles of a toddler. Harry opened the card up to reveal a finger painting done with tiny fingers and Eiona's and Teddy's hand prints in the middle. Draco had spelled out their full names and the dates underneath.

"Thank you Princess. This was so nice of you and Teddy to make me," Harry told her, placing a kiss to her blond head.

Normally Harry would've continued to play with his daughter on the bed, but a loud noise from the other side of the room stopped him. He looked up to see his broom clanging on the floor and Teddy climbing over it. He moved Eiona to the ground and sprang up just as his godson began to rise in midair on the broom, backwards. He dashed across the room and retrieved the two year old, letting the broom fall to the floor.

"Teddy, what are you doing?" Harry asked.

"Day-o say Eddy p'ay wi' Har-ee!" Teddy explained.

"Draco told you to play with me, did he?" Harry asked.

"Yeah," Teddy answered, nodding his head.

"It's not safe to play with Harry's broom by yourself Teddy. You have to get Harry first," Harry scolded, going back to his bed to retrieve Eiona. "That goes for you too Princess: no touching Daddy's broom."

"Ay!" Eiona replied.

"Come on, let's find out what your father is up to." Harry grabbed his wand, did a bit of cleanup, since Kreacher was getting too old to do it all, put on his slippers, and went down the hall, a pair of toddlers at his heals.

Harry found Draco in the nursery, putting together a nappy bag for Eiona. He'd shrunk everything down, but still it wouldn't all fit; it looked like he was trying to pack the entire nursery.

Eiona and Teddy dived into an open drawer, pulling out freshly laundered clothing and tossing it up in the air.

"You know Draco, it's only one day," Harry said.

"And one night! What if she misses us?"

"Having a hundred stuffed bunnies isn't going to change whether or not she misses us."

"Her stuffed bunny! Where is it? Did I already pack it?" Draco was frantically digging through the nappy bag, looking for the beloved bunny, oblivious to the mess the children were making a few feet away.

"Draco," Harry said, grabbing Draco's hand and pulling it out of the nappy bag. He waited until Draco made eye contact before continuing. "Ipheion will be fine. Your aunt knows all about how to take care of babies and Molly will be there to help."

Draco nodded and let Harry envelope him in a hug. Then Harry helped Draco remove ninety percent of the superfluous items from the nappy bag, before gathering up the children and going downstairs. Dromeda was in the parlor, conversing with the portrait of Sirius' parents. She had a twin pram, which Harry and Draco placed Teddy and Eiona into for her. Dromeda assured them that she'd be fine, but Draco prattled on in his worried state for several minutes more.

Finally Dromeda looked at her watch, proclaimed she had to get going if they were to make some kiddy show at the library, and hurried through the door. Draco looked after her in a daze, looking forlorn over the loss of the children. Harry, on the other hand, was very pleased by the development. Harry picked Draco up and carried his husband back to bed. Harry fucked Draco until he forgot all about how their little girl was doing without them, until he was screaming Harry's name and begging for more.

After the morning round of sex there was breakfast in bed, courtesy of Kreacher. Harry thought the ailing elf had added too much salt, but Draco gobbled it down like he hadn't eaten in days. After he ate, Harry freshened up in the bathroom, before returning to the bed for another round. Draco was getting up to use the loo himself, but Harry pushed him back down with a feral grin plastered on his face.

"Harry!" Draco protested, in between kisses from Harry. "We can't."

"We can. We have to. We have all day and nothing else _to_ do, Draco."

"I have to pee," Draco protested.

Harry let Draco up, but followed his husband to the loo. He stood there even when Draco shut the door on him. "Hurry up, because as soon as you're done, your arse has an appointment with my cock."

"Harry, we have to get ready! We're already running late," Draco protested from the other side of the door.

"Running late for what? This is our anniversary. We agreed that the entire day would be just you and me, no children."

"Yes, but I signed us up for couples Quidditch at the castle, remember?"

"No…"

Draco was always talking and saying things when Harry was trying to snog and seduce him. Was it Harry's fault if Draco was always on the non-sex track when he ought to be thinking about Harry's cock in his arse?

"You said it would be nice. You like Quidditch, it's on the same lawn where we got married, and I already paid. Remember? You said you would go as long as you could fuck me in one of the rooms of the castle? You told me to book a room and I did. It's all paid for."

Now that he thought about it, Harry did remember a fantasy he'd had of buggering Draco in a castle after a Quidditch match. That was all that had seeped in of that conversation, but it seemed that letting his dick be in charge of his brain had worked out in his favor. "Yeah, alright, I'll go dress," he called.

Harry pulled out his old Quidditch gear. His old uniform no longer fit, but he had other clothes that would do. Draco finally emerged from the loo and dressed too. Harry's broom was out, but Draco's was nowhere in sight, so Harry went in search of it, looking in various closets. "Draco, have you seen your broom?" he asked.

"We don't need my broom; it's a couples match."

"What's that mean?"

"It means we ride the same broom and are both seeker."

"In that case, forget the pants and I'll bugger you on the broom." Harry had abandoned the closet and was pressing his body up against Draco's now, interfering with Draco's attempt to pull his trousers up.

"Don't you dare."

Harry kissed and sucked at the back of Draco's neck. "How about one quickie before we go then?"

Draco spun around and shot Harry with an ice-water in the pants curse he'd picked up. He was so fast and Harry's head so muddled with sex, that Harry was powerless to dodge it and felt the full brunt of the cold water on his heated parts.

"Was that quick enough for you?" Draco asked with a smirk.

"Urgh! Draco, now I'm all wet," Harry complained, pulling his wand out. He cast a drying charm on himself and smoothed out his robes.

Draco went back to dressing. They were soon ready, grabbed Harry's new broom, and were off. They were late, with their team already huddled up discussing their game plans for the day. But there was never much game plan for a seeker, so there was no harm done. The morning fuck on the other hand, left Draco unable to sit a broom properly, handicapping their pair. The rules clearly stated that there had to be two people on each broom in couples Quidditch, so they had to make do or forfeit.

They were late, so they tried a cushioning charm on Draco's arse and took off in the air. But he kept wiggling in the most enticing way, so that didn't work. There was no sign of the snitch, so they choose to land in order to regroup. Then they tried a few different positions, but they were unbalanced, which either prevented the broom from flying straight or led to Draco slipping off one side or the other. Finally they settled on a position that worked where they were face to face with Draco balanced on a hovering charm, so that his sore bum didn't actually touch the hard rod, and his arms wrapped around Harry to hold on.

Draco hindered their team when it came to steering, but was an asset nonetheless, due to his keen eyesight. Draco spotted the snitch and directed Harry to it. Harry caught it and their team won the game. It was a silly, goofy way to play, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. It would've been more fun if Harry had been able to keep his hands off of Draco that morning, but it was their anniversary and they'd never truly had a chance to be newlyweds.

After the game of Quidditch, they checked into the hotel in the castle and had another go. Then they had lunch in a posh restaurant on the ground floor. Draco ordered the chicken, but sent it back, because it tasted funny and had the vegetarian pasta instead. After that they took a tour of the small museum, before retiring to their room for the night. It wasn't all that late, but Draco was exhausted and fell asleep with Harry's cock still in his arse. Harry ordered room service and ate alone, waking Draco up only for another round in the sheets.

Harry was very satisfied with the amount of sex they had that night. His only complaint, if he had one, was that Draco seemed to be fucked senseless. His husband was utterly useless in the morning, moving at a snail's pace whenever he asked Draco to do anything. When he didn't ask, Draco sat there staring off into space, massaging his left nipple where Harry had pinched too hard, applying anal soothing potion to his rear, or examining the room service menu. Harry didn't mind too much, since it was a direct consequence of all that brilliant sex.

"Alright, what do you want to order?" Harry asked, when he caught Draco staring at the menu for the tenth time. Kreacher would have breakfast ready for them when they got home, so Harry had been planning on waiting to eat. He had been trying to locate all of their possessions, but couldn't seem to track down their Quidditch pads. But Draco hadn't finished his lunch the day before, hadn't eaten dinner at all, and had engaged in lots of physical activity, so it wouldn't hurt to let Draco eat something now.

"Huh?" Draco asked confused.

"What do you want to eat?" Harry asked again.

"For food?" Draco asked.

"Yes, for food. I must've fucked your brains out last night, huh?"

"Uh…" Draco actually seemed legitimately confused by that one.

"Your usual then? Oatmeal and fruit? Or do you want to splurge and go with the eggs and bacon?"

Draco's brow furrowed in thought and he very slowly said, "Oatmeal."

Harry ordered Draco's breakfast and finished packing just as Draco's food arrived. Then he discovered that he smelled like sex and decided to shower; he couldn't pick up their daughter smelling like arse and jizz. He was dressed and ready to go when he noticed that Draco wasn't at all presentable and still smelled like sperm. It was highly unusual for the prissy pathologically clean wizard, but Draco hadn't gotten all that much sleep between the bouts of passionate love-making. Plus Eiona had been up cutting a tooth the night before, so maybe Draco was sleep deprived. Harry decided to cut Draco some slack, cast a few cleaning charms, and directed Draco into appropriate attire.

Draco continued to act spacey when they got home, but it was the weekend and Harry had the day off, so he took over. He directed Draco to the bath to soak and then to bed. Draco slept all day and woke up acting like his normal self, proving that Harry was right about the sleep-deprivation. Maybe next year they'd spend a bit more of the night sleeping…Then again, Harry didn't mind taking care of Draco for the day and buggering him all night had its appeal.

* * *

Author's Note: And so the main drama begins…Up next will be more of Draco's strange symptoms—can anyone guess what's wrong with him?—and more of Harry not considering how things will affect Draco, like how he jumped Draco before their planned Quidditch game. It'll start with the little things, but those little things add up. If anyone has any ideas for petty disagreements they can have or annoying things men forget to do or don't pay attention to, please let me know!

Please review!


	4. Chapter 4

It was a Tuesday evening a month later when Harry came home to a filthy house, a crying baby, and a hysterical Draco. The house being filthy was a typical occurrence these days. Walburga had declared that it was time to cut off their elf's head, because he was too old to keep the house tidy. Harry didn't think it was all Kreacher's fault, because Draco was a bloody slob and Eiona was a messy toddler; it wasn't fair to ask the aging Kreacher to keep up. Kreacher was trying and that was what was important. You don't just get rid of a family member because he was old and Kreacher was part of the family.

Harry traipsed his way up the stairs, past summer coats, shoes, and hats that Draco had left strewn on the stairs and up to the drawing room. There were toys scattered over the floor along with the remains of a ravaged looking first aid kid. The small tea table was still set for an afternoon tea that was long since over. There were crumb filled plates with half-eaten scones and tea cups with the dregs still in them left along with a tea kettle that had long since gone cold. Harry should've expected as much, given that Eiona and Draco had had a playdate today with Victoire and Fleur. Somehow, though, he still managed to be disappointed by the mess.

Draco was sitting on the floor, caging Eiona in with his legs and one arm, while trying to apply a plaster with his free hand and holding his wand in his teeth. Eiona was screaming in a wild tantrum that was more typical of the two year old Teddy than their little princess. Draco's face was red with tear streaks running down it.

"What happened?" Harry yelled the question, so as to be heard above the din.

"That awful veela and her rabid veela spawn!" Draco yelled back, a sob of desperation on his breath.

That didn't answer the question, so Harry asked again. "What did they do?"

"Bit my precious Ipheion! Can you believe? Like a rabid pixie, just put Eiona's finger in her mouth and chomped down!"

"Here, let me see it," Harry requested, stepping closer. Draco held out the digit he'd been trying to cover with the plaster for Harry to see. Harry took it, while Draco flung the ruined plaster to the floor to join the mounting pile of discarded plasters. "There's nothing there." The finger was a bit red, but that could just be from Draco's attack with the plasters. There was no break in the skin or bite mark.

"Well there was! I could see teeth marks and everything! But that was hours ago now."

"And Eiona's been crying all this time?"

"No, she just started back up. She was playing, but the plaster came off and she didn't want to sit still long enough for me to apply another."

"I don't blame her. Here, give her here," Harry said, taking his daughter from Draco's clutches. She would've been fine if not for Draco's pathological desire to put a plaster on an injury that didn't need one in the first place and had long since disappeared.

Harry stood up with his daughter, bouncing her up and down and murmuring, "Shush, it's alright, Daddy's got you," over and over again in a never ending loop.

Eiona stopped screaming, but kept fussing and reaching for the floor, like she wanted to be put down. Eventually Harry got the hint and let his daughter go. Eiona stopped crying the instant she was free and allowed to toddle over to her favorite doll, which lay abandoned on the floor.

"You can't just let her go Harry!" Draco proclaimed. "It's a mess in here. Your elf didn't clean, again."

Harry rolled his eyes at that. They'd argued half a hundred times over Kreacher. Draco wanted to bring over Dobson, a younger elf from the Manor. Harry refused, kept Kreacher passed his useful years, and told Draco to start picking up after himself. But Draco was a slob and what was more, he was a picky slob who complained about the mess he'd made. It was often left to Harry to pick up the place when he came home from a long day of work. That was what he did now, even though he'd worked all day and wanted nothing more than to sit down and relax.

"And what about her finger? It needs a plaster or it will get infected!" Draco cried.

Harry paused in his picking up medical supplies to stare at Draco incredulously. "No it doesn't; there's nothing there."

"Of course there's something there! I saw it myself! There's a bite from a rabid one-year-old veela! Vicky is a bloody nightmare; I told that Fleur I don't want her and her bloody daughter coming over here again."

"Language! Not in front of Eiona." Harry was back to picking up, plaster wrappers this time so that their daughter didn't choke. Draco, as usual, didn't lift a finger to clean. "Vicky's just a baby; I'm sure she didn't mean to bite."

"Ipheion never bit anyone," Draco retorted petulantly.

"Well Eiona's perfect. You can't expect perfection from other kids."

"Especially not for a part veela part Weasley one, that's for sure."

Harry was quickly losing his patience with this conversation. Draco was not helping, there was nothing wrong with Eiona, and the mess was only going away as fast as his one wand could make it. His stomach grumbled and gave him an important change of subject. "Is Kreacher in the kitchen then, making supper?"

"Supper? Who can think about supper at a time like this? Eiona is probably going to be scarred for the rest of her life!"

"Draco, you're over-reacting?"

"I'm over-reacting!? I am? I think you have failed to understand the gravity of the situation!"

"Then explain it to me Draco."

"Our precious little Ipheion was bitten! We're lucky her finger didn't come clean off!"

Harry rolled his eyes at that. "Just go check on Kreacher while I finish cleaning," Harry requested as calmly as he could manage.

"We wouldn't have to check on Kreacher if you just let me bring Dobson over. He's my elf and you said that this was my house too now. Why can't my elf live with me in my house?"

"Because Draco! Kreacher is a sentient being, not some robot you can discard when it gets old!"

"A robot?"

"A machine," Harry clarified. "Just go check on dinner."

Hot, stinging tears started falling from Draco's eyes again. He covered them with his hand and turned so that Harry wouldn't see, before turning around. He went to check on dinner, but only as an excuse to hide his tears from Harry. He'd often been emotional lately, but was doing his best not to fall apart in front of his husband. His so called husband hadn't hugged him in his time of distress or offered so much as one comforting word; he could feel the breakdown coming and he wasn't going to do it where Harry could see.

Kreacher was in fact sound asleep, standing up in the kitchen, with an oven-mit on one hand and his chin resting on the counter. Dinner was smoking away, ruined, in the oven. He was too old to cook and was a danger in the kitchen, both to himself and to others.

Draco spelled out the fire under the stove and vanished the burnt meal. The air was thick and bitter with acrid black smoke, which Draco vanished. The smell of burned and blackened roast vanished, but lingered in Draco's nose and mouth, bringing more tears to his eyes and he broke down in uncontrollable sobs. Logically he knew it was just dinner, but he was emotional, hungry, and just knew Harry was going to blame him for this. How was it his fault that Harry refused to let him bring over a new elf? Add in the stress from having an ill father, even one who was finally on the mend, and it was too much. Before he collapsed in sobs right there on the kitchen floor he decided to go outside.

Draco had been working on the small garden in the back of number twelve, Grimmauld Place, since that spring. He'd gotten the overgrown weeds out of there and added in soft grass for Eiona to play on. The blue star-flowers Neville had given them were in bloom, the sole scrub in a sea of grasses, and Draco went to sit under them now. He sat and cried. He didn't hear when Harry called for him, nor did he notice the setting of the sun, or the chill coming in from the night air. His tears dried on his face and he fell asleep like that.

Harry did not know that there had ever been a roast for dinner or that Draco had saved them by turning off the stove before the roast caught fire. Nor did he know that Draco had cleaned something for once. He knew only that Kreacher was asleep on his feet when he came down the stairs with Eiona and that his husband was nowhere in sight. He called for Draco, but when there was no answer, he figured that Draco had gone off to Cissy's. He was hungry and with no dinner in sight, he decided to go to the one place where dinner would always be on the table: the Burrow.

Eiona didn't like to travel by floo and always cried whenever they took her anywhere, but she liked side-along apparition even less, so it was the floo for them. Harry came out the other end in Molly and Arthur's living room, jiggling a crying baby and trying to placate her with soft murmurs.

"Oh dear! Is it that bad?" Molly asked, bustling into the room. "Fleur stopped by and told me all about it, but she said it was nothing and that Draco waz over-reacteen, as she put it."

"Oh, he was. It's not that, it's just the floo Molly," Harry explained.

"That's good to hear, although I'll admit that little Vicky is a bit violent. Ginny never hit or kicked me like that." Molly showed Harry a black and green bruise on her arm to back up her point. "Percy was a rough little baby and the boys all had their moments, but Ginny was always a perfect little angel. I guess it doesn't just come down to boys against girls. Oh listen to me blathering on, when it's our precious little princess with the owie. Did you disinfect it Harry?"

"No, there's nothing to disinfect and I'm sure Draco already did it anyway."

Molly insisted on seeing the bite just the same, but came to the same conclusion Harry and Fleur had: it was nothing and wasn't in need of medical treatment. Molly had supper on the table and extra for Harry and Eiona. They had a delicious meal that was far better than anything Draco or Kreacher could make.

Draco didn't cook much, but when he did, it was usually pudding. Draco had made a batch of bloody awful pudding last week. It was butterscotch with cranberries and peppermint. He was always adding things and thereby ruining, the pudding. What was so wrong with plain vanilla pudding? Why add marshmallows and honey to it? That wasn't even the worst; the worst was when Draco had added the fresh lemon juice to the lemon pudding, making the dessert curdle.

Harry figured Draco was probably at Malfoy Manor making another awful pudding. He tried not to think about Draco and enjoy the relaxing evening at the Burrow, but a summer thunder storm was coming on and he really had to be getting back home. Eiona needed to be bathed and put to bed and there was likely still messes back home to clean. Grudgingly, Harry said farewell to the Weasleys and returned to Grimmauld Place. Again he called out for Draco, but again received no response.

Eiona still needed that bath, so Harry went about the usual nighttime routine by himself. When Draco still wasn't home for story time, he began to wonder. He put Eiona to sleep, again by himself. Then he set Kreacher to watch the sleeping baby and apparated over to the Manor, to fetch Draco. Only Draco wasn't at the Manor and Cissy said she hadn't seen him. Harry carried on to St. Mungo's, where Lucius was still staying, positive that that was where he'd find Draco.

Cissy, on the other hand, apparated to Grimmauld Place, equally sure that that was where Draco was. She found him outside soaking wet on the grass, still sound asleep. She woke him up and brought him, dripping, into the kitchen. She had just gotten Draco onto the bench of the kitchen table when Harry returned.

Harry was frantic after being told by the Aurors on duty guarding Lucius that Draco hadn't been there all night. His plan was to return home, take the baby to Molly's, and then track down every one of Draco's friends. But then he heard Cissy's voice coming from the kitchen and followed the sound. Draco was there, steam visibly rising from his hot body as the rainwater evaporated.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"He fell asleep outside and got caught in the rain," Cissy answered.

"Draco, what were you doing outside, when I asked you to check on dinner?" Harry asked Draco directly this time.

Draco didn't answer. Instead he stared off into the distance, not focusing on Harry, who was right in front of him. He blinked a few times and when Harry repeated the question, he shrugged.

"Harry, we need to get him cleaned up and put him to bed," Cissy said.

"Is something wrong with him? Why isn't he answering properly?"

"He's still half asleep, is all. He used to do this as a child; he'd fall asleep somewhere and when I'd wake him, he would respond, but be still half gone. Just put him to bed and he will be right as rain in the morning."

And that is just what they did. Cissy cast a drying charm, Harry spelled away the puddles of water on the floor, and they took Draco upstairs to dress for bed. Draco went through the motions when prompted, but didn't initiate any of it and was slow to do each step. Harry worried that Draco might have caught hypothermia outside in the rain, but it was a warm night and when he climbed into bed with his husband, he found Draco's body to be very hot. He worried that night that Draco would catch a cold, but his husband was fine, just as Cissy had predicted, in the morning.

* * *

Author's Note: And so the strange symptoms continue…personally I love the scene with Draco and the plasters :)

I have good news: I have worked out the arc for the fighting half of this story and written the outline for those chapters. This story is really coming along now.

Please Review!


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: You are lucky I finished this right before dinner, because while cooking I sliced my index finger open. I just spent three hours in the emergency room getting 4 stitches.

* * *

Harry wanted a divorce from Draco. They'd only been married for a year and some change, most of which had been spent fixating on Lucius and Eiona. Now that their daughter wasn't a baby anymore and his father-in-law was on the mend, he was quickly growing sick and tired of his husband.

It was little things at first, like their fight over house elves. Then there was the fact that Draco disliked Victoire Weasley. Ever since Vicky bit Eiona, Draco had been refusing Fleur's proposed playdates. Draco claimed it wasn't just the one biting incident, but that Vicky turned into a harpy whenever she didn't get her way. Draco didn't want the spoiled brat around his daughter. Harry hadn't been there, hadn't seen it, and didn't believe it was as bad as Draco made it out, because there was never any evidence left on their daughter and Draco was prone to overreaction.

Draco was still alright with Teddy, but had been leaving Dromeda with Eiona more and more often. He used to take the baby over to Dromeda's house or invite her and Teddy over to Grimmauld Place, staying for the duration of the playdates. Lately he'd been saying he didn't feel well and pawning his daughter off on his aunt. She was getting old and Teddy was enough for her to deal with; she didn't need Eiona over there too.

When Eiona wasn't left with Dromeda for the day, she was at Malfoy Manor with Cissy. Now that she didn't have Lucius' health to worry about, she was happy to do it, and Draco had begun taking advantage. Harry didn't like how often Draco was leaving Eiona with Cissy. Between Cissy and Dromeda on the weekdays and Harry taking their daughter to the Weasleys on the weekend, Draco was spending very little time with her.

They'd also argued about where they lived. Grimmauld Place was tight with three people, because Harry still wouldn't clean out the third floor with Sirius and Regulus' things and Draco was used to living in a large house. Draco wanted more room to live and there was plenty of room in Malfoy Manor. Of course Harry didn't want to live there and he didn't think it was that cramped here, because he was used to living in a cupboard. Harry had refused to consider Draco's point of view and insisted they maintained their current living arrangement.

Then there was the fact that Draco had been spacey and moody lately. It had started on their anniversary and only gotten worse. The events the night Victoire bit Eiona were repeated several more times. Sometimes Harry noticed Draco crying and tried to comfort him, but more often he didn't understand and ignored it. Other times Harry didn't even notice and Draco successfully hid himself away, in a different location each time. When that happened, Harry would have to search through the house for where Draco had gone to sleep and then put a completely spaced-out Draco to bed. Draco never explained why he was doing it and Harry never made the link, instead becoming increasingly pissed off each time it happened. It happened again tonight.

They'd just finished their desert after enjoying a nice family dinner at Grimmauld Place. Harry had eaten a delicious helping of treacle tart. Their daughter Eiona, at eighteen months old, was too little for treacle tarts, so she'd had some applesauce. Draco normally would've eaten some of the tart with his husband, but his stomach felt queasy, so he'd stuck to tea and a gingersnap. He'd been feeling ill a lot recently, but hadn't said anything. Ginger snaps, ginger candies, and tea helped, staving off the nausea so that Harry didn't notice.

Draco really should've made an appointment to see his healer, but he didn't. He was scared he had his father's Motor Neurone disease and wasn't ready to have it confirmed. He should've told Harry that he wasn't feeling well, but he couldn't bear the thought of opening up to his husband about it. Harry had been less than supportive and understanding with him of late. He worried that if he said something, Harry would ignore him, tell him he was overreacting, or that it was all in his head, like Harry did with everything else. Therefore he kept quiet.

Draco got up to put his teacup and saucer in the sink, doing his best to clean up after himself. They still were without a properly functioning elf and Harry got mad whenever he didn't pick up after himself. He couldn't help that he didn't know how, because he'd never had to do it before. When Harry took the time to give him specific instructions, like put your dishes in the sink when done, he tried to follow them. Sometimes he forgot, especially if there were a large number of things to do, but he was honestly trying.

Harry was wiping up Eiona, cleaning the applesauce off her hands and face and spelling her bib clean. He wasn't paying attention to Draco and didn't realize how long his husband had been standing over the sink, staring off into space, until the teacup and saucer dropped, shattering as they collided with the stone basin. China shards went flying, some ending up on the counter, some on the floor, and most stayed in the sink.

"Merlin Draco! I told you to _put_ the dishes in the sink, not _drop_ them in!" Harry yelled, jumping up to clean up the pottery shards before someone got hurt. "What is so hard about placing your dishes in the sink when you're done with them? Now I have to get all of the fragments up or I'll cut my hands washing them." Harry looked up at Draco, to see him staring off into space. "Are you listening to me?" Draco looked at Harry blankly, not really hearing him. "Why aren't you helping? At least let Eiona down and take her to her room."

The request didn't sink into Draco's head, unable to pass through the thick fog. He continued to stand there, staring blankly at Harry. When Draco didn't move, Harry grew angrier. "Draco!" Harry yelled, Eiona cried, and Draco jumped. "Take Eiona up to her room!" Harry nearly growled it out.

That sunk through and Draco slowly went to obey, unstrapping Eiona from her highchair and carrying her up the stairs to her room, her tears already drying now that no one was yelling. The tone Harry had used had sunk in, setting off Draco's tears. He sat down, Eiona in his arms, in the rocking chair, rocking back and forth to sooth his emotional distress, his tears falling down his face into Eiona's blond hair. How could Harry be so mean? Why couldn't Harry see that Draco was trying? Why did Harry have to yell at him over an accident?

Eiona started trying to break free from Draco's arms, fussing when her father didn't move. She then let out a wail that finally caused him to let her free. She took off immediately towards the mess of toys surrounding her toy box to play. He was hot, so got up to find a decent window to open. The window in Eiona's room had been spelled not to open, to keep her safe, which meant he had to leave the room. He didn't want Harry to see him crying, so he went up another floor, to the third floor landing, where there was a large window with a small balcony overlooking the street. He opened the window, stepped out onto the balcony and then decided to sit on the stone railing. It was a thick stone, so when he grew tired, he lay down and fell asleep in his precarious position.

Meanwhile Harry stayed downstairs to clean up the kitchen after super. The shards had been vanished, the dishes washed, the pots scrubbed, and the counters and table given a thorough wipe down. Then he moved to the hallway, picking up shoes and coats, hanging up the coats, and placing the shoes in a neat line by the door. While he was doing this, he heard a bang from upstairs, followed by a cry, so he abandoned the shoes and rushed upstairs to Eiona's room.

Eiona was sitting inside one of her drawers, the chest fallen on its side from the weight. Her little fingers were caught between the piece of furniture and the rug and she screamed as she tried to pull them free. Harry rushed over, freeing the fingers and examining his daughter. She had a few scratches from the fall and her fingers were bright red from being pinched, but she was otherwise alright. He took her downstairs to the cellar, where he obtained a bit of ice from the icebox, which he used to sooth her fingers.

Once the toddler stopped crying, Harry took her back to her room, where he righted the chest of drawers and told her not to climb on the furniture again. Eiona nodded in response, not actually understanding, before toddling over to her toys. She seemed to be playing safely, so he went in search of Draco.

Harry's anger was only increasing. First the cup and then Draco had left their daughter alone to climb on the furniture. What was so important that Draco couldn't just stay and keep an eye on the toddler? What had Draco been doing while Harry was slaving away to clean up after them? Certainly not cleaning up Eiona's room, that was for sure after seeing the mess all over the floor: toys and clothes strewn about. Sure Eiona had probably made the mess, but Draco could've cleaned it up or at least watched her.

Harry looked in every room on the second floor, before assuming that Draco must've gone off to hide again. He didn't know why Draco was hiding, other than to get away from him. Was Draco really that unhappy in their marriage? What right did Draco have to be unhappy? Draco wasn't working, only staying home alone all day, while Harry worked and someone else watched their daughter. Draco wasn't the one spending hours every night cleaning up his husband's messes; that was Harry cleaning up after the slob. And to top it all off, after having the entire day to himself to do nothing, Draco couldn't even watch Eiona while Harry cleaned.

Harry was pissed as he climbed the stairs to the third floor. He looked in Sirius' old room first, then Regulus' old room, before heading back into the hallway, assuming Draco was in the attic again. Once he was facing the window which looked out on the street, his eyes were immediately drawn to where Draco was. He assumed Draco was only lying on the railing, which was dangerous in and of itself and stepped out onto the balcony to give his husband a piece of his mind.

The air was bitingly cold as it blew over Harry's face and hands. It was an unseasonable night, much colder than usual and Harry began to wonder what Draco was doing lying out in this weather. Although, it really wasn't much different from the time Draco went to sleep in the rain, so he shrugged the wonder off, letting his anger seep back in.

"Draco, what are you doing out here?" Harry asked angrily. Draco didn't respond. "Do you have any idea what our daughter just did? She climbed up her chest of drawers and tipped it over. Her fingers were crushed, all because you couldn't watch her. Draco! Are you listening to me?"

Draco still hadn't moved or so much as flinched at Harry's angry words. It was then that Harry stepped closer, looking into Draco's even face with closed eyes, and realized that Draco was asleep. "What the fuck is _wrong_ with you Draco!?" Harry asked, grabbing Draco around the chest and pulling him off of the ledge, back onto the balcony.

There was a loud thunk as Draco's head hit the stone of the floor, Harry not having been as careful as he should've been. Draco woke up then, clutching his head and crying out in pain. Draco curled up in a ball in his pain and didn't get up to move inside the house like Harry thought he should've.

"Come on, let's go inside," Harry said, tugging on Draco's arm, but said arm didn't move from where it clutched at Draco's head. "You would've been hurt a whole lot worse if you'd fallen the other way. What is wrong with you that you decided to do something so reckless? Don't you care about Eiona at all?"

There was no response that Harry could make out, so he levitated Draco's body, guiding his husband back through the window into the house. He thought about continuing on to their bedroom and tucking Draco into bed, but he was tired himself and didn't want to hear the continuing sobs; at least the wailing had stopped. He worried for a second that there was actually something wrong with Draco's head, so he leaned down to examine the injury with the wave of his wand, but his diagnostic spell reported only a mild bruise. Draco's skin was warm to the touch, despite the freezing cold outside, so he figured Draco hadn't been outside that long.

This was once again nothing more than Draco overreacting. Thus Harry left Draco lying on the rug and crying, while he went downstairs to put their daughter to bed by himself. He'd expected Draco to come down the stairs acting as if nothing had happened, but when he was ready for bed and Draco was still on the third floor, he went to sleep alone. Harry tossed and turned all night, fed up with Draco and their marriage. It wasn't working, so what was there to do about it?

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Author's Note: Draco is getting worse…how do you think he'll react when he wakes up on the floor with a head injury?

I would like to give a special thank you to sghazalifard, for being the only one to review the last chapter!

Please Review!


	6. Chapter 6

That night, Harry decided that they would be happier if they got a divorce, but he wasn't ready to act on his decision. He was an Auror and his instincts were telling him to gather more information before making a change that would permanently affect their lives. Thus when he woke up, he decided he would take a day off from work to spy on Draco to see just what Draco was up to during the day. It had to be something, otherwise why was Draco so tired when he came home?

Cissy arrived early that morning and was tending to Eiona, so Harry went off to work, with plans of asking for a day off in the near future.

Cissy assumed Draco was still asleep, so she flooed with her granddaughter to the Manor.

Draco was left on the third floor landing, where in a daze he'd fallen asleep the night before. He woke up with a headache from his head injury and dried tears crusted all over his face. It was his stomach that woke him, so he went first to the pantry to obtain the ingredients for a large pudding. Today he put apple slices into it and when he saw two left over slices of toast from Harry, he decided to add that as well. It needed something more, so he added a pinch of salt and garlic, before digging in.

After the hearty breakfast, Draco went to soak in the bath for a good long while. In the warm water, he tried to piece together just what had happened. He vaguely remembered Harry yelling at him, as well as being very hot and sitting on the balcony. Then there was pain and Harry was with him on the third floor landing. That was where he'd woken up, so he figured Harry must've left him there. Why would Harry leave him when he was in so much pain? Why was he even in pain in the first place?

Draco's hand went up to his injured head, feeling the tender spot. It was on the back of his head, on the right hand side, but what could've caused it? He knew Harry had been angry with him and had left him, but had Harry been mad enough to hurt him? Could Harry do that to him? If it had been an accident, surely Harry would've stayed to comfort him; the fact that he'd been left made Harry seem guilty. Would Harry do it again? And more importantly, would Harry ever hurt their daughter?

Draco didn't know the answers to these questions, but he was scared by them. He thought about going to his mother or his friends with his problem, but was too embarrassed. What he needed was someone neutral to examine his wound and tell him what happened. Harry was always saying he overreacted and he didn't want to go off accusing Harry when he didn't know for sure what had happened. Thus he decided to visit a healer and let a professional tell him what happened to his head. If a healer said he'd been beaten, then he'd report it to the Aurors and get Eiona away from Harry.

Healer Smith was family and Draco was too embarrassed to tell family, so seeing the wizard was out of the question. Instead Draco went to the Emergency ward at St. Mungo's and let a stranger look over him. He showed them the injury, relayed what little he could remember of the night, and let the medi-wizard decide.

"You hit your head. It seems fine, but the memory loss indicates otherwise. The diagnostic charms, however, rule out the possibility of a concussion. It's a bit of a mystery. I think you must've suffered from a very mild concussion; too mild for the spell to detect. It interfered with your memory, but you're fine now. I suggest you go home and take it easy for the next few days. If the headaches continue, come back and I'll run some more tests," the medi-wizard concluded.

It was getting late and Harry would be home soon, so Draco apparated to the Manor to retrieve Eiona. He knew Harry disliked when he wasn't home with Eiona when Harry got there and that Harry hated having to fetch their daughter. While he was there, Cissy asked what was wrong. He relayed what the medi-wizard said about hitting his head, memory loss, mild concussion, and that he was fine. She pursed her lips in concern, but let him go.

Draco took Eiona home. When he went into her room he found a colossal mess, far worse than it'd been the night before. He wondered why Harry hadn't cleaned it and had made it in the first place. It wasn't safe to let his daughter play in this mess, so he gathered up a few toys for her to play with in the drawing room. He was reading to her from a thick and heavy old book of children's stories when Harry came home. He stood up to greet his husband with the book still in hand, Eiona grasping onto his leg and saying, "Hi Daddy!"

"Why on Earth did you bring the mess in here? Isn't it bad enough you keep Eiona's room so filthy?" Harry asked, taking in the half dozen toys on the floor. One was a set of blocks, strewn in a large pile.

"I didn't…" Draco trailed off confused. Why was Harry accusing him of making the mess in Eiona's room? It was already there when he'd gotten home, so Harry must've made it the night before.

"Yes you did! What do you do all day besides make messes? You slept all evening yesterday, so you couldn't have been sleeping. Your mum watches Eiona. Why couldn't you just use that time to pick up after yourself?"

"I…" Draco's explanation got stuck in his throat at the sight of Harry's anger. Remembering his earlier thoughts that Harry might've hurt him last night, he instinctively raised his hands to clutch his head, the book slipping from his grip in the process.

The book fell on Eiona, who was still clinging to Draco's leg, hitting her in the face and hands, including her injured finger. She fell back and started screaming. Draco bent down to pick her up, an apology on his lips, but Harry swooped in, pushing him back, and grabbing the toddler. He took her to the other side of the room where he bounced her up and down, muttering, "Shush, Daddy's got you now," soothingly.

Once Eiona's crying stopped, Harry sat her down with the toys and turned to Draco.

"How could you be so careless?" Harry asked angrily. "You dropped a book on our baby!"

"I didn't…mmean to. I-it was an accident," Draco said, eyes darting around the room as his instincts screamed at him to run. What if Harry hurt him again and he woke up tomorrow on the floor? But Harry was between him and their daughter and he couldn't leave without her, so he was frozen in place.

"You never mean to do anything Draco!"

A huge sob left Draco's throat at Harry's furious tone. He couldn't stop the tears from coming and had trouble breathing through his tears, gasping for breath. He crumpled into a heap on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.

"I'm going to the Weasleys. I don't care what you do," Harry said to his crying husband, before turning to his daughter. "Come here Eiona, we're going to see Grandmum Molly."

Eiona came and Harry scooped her up, taking her to the Weasleys to calm down. Molly asked what was wrong almost as soon as he was through the floo, but he said he didn't want to talk about it just yet. They had dinner and then he let Molly take Eiona, while he went upstairs with Ron to vent. Ron never had a high opinion of Draco and was quick to take Harry's side, assuring Harry that he wasn't overreacting and that Draco was being a git.

Draco stayed where he was and continued to cry, wondering why Harry was so mean and mad all the time. Kreacher hadn't remembered to cook dinner and without Harry there, no one even noticed, Draco too upset to remember to eat. He had only eaten pudding that day and without food in his stomach, his thoughts became muddled. He eventually stopped crying, staring off in a fog there on the drawing room floor.

Draco was still sitting in the drawing room staring off into space when Harry came home. He put Eiona to bed and then prepared for bed himself. Draco hadn't moved when he looked in on his husband before bed and he began to feel bad. He'd left Draco to sleep on the floor the night before and didn't want to do the same tonight, especially because this time Draco was quiet. Thus he decided to take mercy on his husband and put Draco to bed.

"Get up and come to bed," Harry said, approaching Draco, but Draco didn't respond.

Harry huffed and pulled on Draco's arm, only to have his husband flinch away from him. "Come on," he said, bending down, wrapping an arm under Draco's armpits, and pulling upwards. "Get up you great lump."

Draco stood slowly and let Harry lead him to their room. He sat on the bed when Harry pushed down on his shoulders. Harry pushed him backwards and he lay on the bed. Harry turned off the light and crawled in the bed exhausted and ready to go to sleep, only to have Draco crawl out of the bed. Harry assumed he had to use the loo and waited impatiently for him to return to their bed. But he never came back and when Harry spelled the lights back on, he was asleep sitting up against the wall. He hadn't needed to use the loo; he just didn't want to sleep with Harry.

Harry went to sleep feeling hurt that night. Didn't Draco love him anymore? Was Draco as miserable in their marriage as he was? Maybe it'd be best if he asked for a divorce, since Draco wouldn't even sleep in the same bed with him.

That night Harry began to wonder if Draco was sneaking around on him with someone else. It would explain why Draco couldn't stand to be near him and wouldn't sleep in the same bed with him. It would also explain why Draco was so tired all of the time, even though he never did anything as far as he could tell. And maybe it just might explain why Draco never wanted to have as much sex as he did, if Draco was getting it from someone else.

Harry couldn't wait for his day off tomorrow so that he could spy on his husband. Robards didn't typically grant days off with such short notice, but another Auror had switched with him. It meant he'd given up one of his vacation days, but it was worth it.

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Author's Note: Cissy is going to give Harry a piece of her mind tomorrow and Harry is going to spy on Draco.

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	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: Thank you to everyone for the reviews!

I didn't know I was going to write the following until I did, but I need to up the warnings. This story now contains either non-con or dub-con…I'm not sure which. Oh, and all the best bits have been cut out of this chapter to confirm with the rules of this site. If you'd like to read the version with the whole lemon, you can read the version of this chapter posted on AO3. You can find the link on my profile page.

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Harry always left for work long before Draco woke up in the morning. Even Eiona wakes before Draco does; which was why Cissy was in the habit of letting herself in early and taking care of her granddaughter, so that her son could sleep in. Harry didn't have to work that day, but he didn't want anyone, including Cissy, to know, so he got up at the normal time and dressed for work. He'd wait until Cissy left and then hide.

Cissy had something to say to Harry, because she found her son-in-law's actions entirely intolerable. She changed Eiona's nappy, handed over a bottle of milk, and left her granddaughter in the crib. Then she knocked on Harry's bedroom door.

Harry had just pulled on his robes and was looking for socks. "Yes?" he called, wondering if it was Draco. Draco wasn't in their bed, but then Harry remembered that Draco had slept on the floor. He glanced on the other side of the bed and sure enough Draco was still passed out on the floor.

"Harry, can we talk?" Cissy asked, cracking open the door.

"Sure, let's go in the drawing room. Draco's still asleep," Harry said, bringing his socks with him to the door. For some reason he didn't want his mother-in-law to know how bad things were and that Draco was sleeping on the floor.

Cissy agreed and they sat in the drawing room.

"What did you want to talk about?" Harry asked, wondering what Draco had been telling his mother.

"Draco seemed worried when he came over yesterday. He said he'd just been to hospital to have them look at a bump on his head. He couldn't remember how he'd gotten it. He said the medi-wizard said the memory loss was due to a very mild concussion, but that he was fine. Do you know how my son hit his head Harry?" Cissy asked pointedly, almost accusingly.

"Yes, the stupid git was sleeping on the railing of the balcony on the third floor. I pulled him down, but he's heavy and his head hit the stone. I checked him over and the spell reported that there was nothing wrong with him," Harry answered. He was skeptical that Draco really couldn't remember and wondered how Draco had convinced a medi-wizard to diagnose him with a concussion. Going to hospital over a bruise had to be the epitome of an overreaction and he thought that it was so typical Draco that he wanted to scream.

"And was he acting normally? Were there any signs of a concussion?"

"There were no signs, but he was clutching his head and screaming all out of proportion. I figured he was overreacting again and left him there."

"Next time you are tired of dealing with my son, Harry, please fetch me. I'll be more than happy to look after him." She said it sweetly, but it sounded like a reprimand just the same, as if unlike Harry, she was perfectly willing to tend to a concussion.

Harry was about to tell her to take Draco now and that he was still tired of dealing with Draco's bullshite. But today was his day off and his one chance to spy on Draco. He couldn't spy on his husband if Draco wasn't here, so instead he nodded and said, "Alright, but I have to finish getting ready for work."

"Yes. I'll just take Eiona to the Manor now," Cissy said, standing up and then heading towards Eiona's room.

Harry went downstairs to have breakfast and it wasn't long before he heard the sound of Cissy flooing away with his daughter. After breakfast, he went back upstairs to find Draco still sound asleep on the floor. Figuring Draco would be up soon, he piped one of George's extendable ears from the drawing room, through the fireplace, to Sirius' old room above. Then he went upstairs to Sirius' old room and waited. Unlike Draco, he actually had a reason to be tired, because he worked so much and came home only to clean the house at night. Thus he lay down on the bed and closed his eyes, waiting for Draco to get up. He fell asleep there.

Harry slept through Pansy's unexpected arrival. She came over uninvited to tell Draco her good news, waking him up. Draco scrambled to put himself together and tried to act normally in front of his friend, even though he'd woken up on the floor for the second morning in a row without knowing how he'd gotten there. He thought it was pretty shitty of Harry to make him sleep on the floor.

Draco let Pansy in and led her to the kitchen, where he found the usual two slices of cold toast, which he ate, not having anything to offer his friend.

"Not that I don't love you Pansy, but why are you here so early? It's barely ten thirty," Draco said, having washed down the toast with water.

"Good to see you too you lazy git. I'm pregnant and I wanted you to be the first to know. I just came from St. Mungo's," Pansy said cheerfully with a large smile.

"Congratulations! That's really wonderful! Shouldn't you tell Blaise first?" Draco asked.

Pansy and Blaise were newly married, having tied the knot just after Draco and Harry.

"He already knows I suspect it, but I'll tell him officially when he gets home tonight. Now stop being so rude and offer me some tea and biscuits. I'm pregnant after all, so you have to feed me."

"Alright, but I have to warn you that our elf is useless. Last I saw him he was using a spatula to clean the second floor toilet. I'll have to make it myself."

"Can you do that? You, make tea, I mean?"

"I've learned a bit, but no guarantees. It's not always drinkable," Draco said with a shrug, taking out their tea kettle. Harry always got mad when he ruined the tea, like it was impossible to mess up, when it wasn't.

Draco made tea and it came out alright, which he thanked Salazar for. He called Kreacher to ask for biscuits and the elf produced a package of Draco's gingersnaps. Thus with tea and biscuits, they went to the drawing room to chat. They talk about pregnancy matters and how Blaise will be waiting on her hand and foot during the end of it, like Harry did for Draco when he was on bed rest. Draco wanted to have another baby, despite his unmentioned problems with Harry, which set Pansy off gushing about how their children would all grow up together.

Then Draco said, "Yes, and I can't wait for when Harry has to wait on me hand and foot again. Our house elf situation is entirely intolerable. Something like that is bound to make him see how much we need a new one."

Meanwhile, Harry was sleeping upstairs having a bad dream about Draco and Pansy planning to revive the Death Eater movement. Every word being said in the room below was coming out of the extendable ear, lying nearby. He woke up just in time to hear Draco's last statement, not knowing what was being discussed.

Harry stayed put and continued to listen in. Draco and Pansy turned to discussing politics. Being another reelection year, Kingsley Shacklebolt was going up against a pureblood politian named Fawley. Draco and Pansy supported the pureblood Fawley, wanting to get Kingsley out of office. Listening to the discussion while his thought process was tainted by his earlier dream, Harry began to think Draco was still anti-muggle and muggleborns after all. Perhaps Draco had lied about being alright with Hermione and supporting the light. With the way Draco disparaged Shacklebolt, it was clear that he wasn't as supportive of Harry's politics as he'd thought. Harry didn't really know much about this Fawley, but he assumed the worst of him and thereby Draco and Pansy as well.

Finally Harry decided he'd heard enough and apparated away to think. He went for a walk in a nearby park so that he could consider all that he'd learned.

Pansy's arrival was a one-off, but Harry didn't know that and assumed that her appearance today meant that Draco spent his days gossiping with his friends. And since Draco didn't sleep nearly as late that day as he usually did, Harry didn't notice how many hours the wizard usually slept and didn't think anything was wrong. Instead he thought it was rather pathetic that his husband was spending so much time with friends instead of their daughter.

Secondly, Draco's politics were pro-Fawley, which Harry assumed meant pro-the old Death Eater ideals. That meant he hadn't changed as much as Harry had assumed. It also made Harry think Draco had been lying to him during all of those times Draco had insisted he supported muggle and muggleborn rights. If Draco was lying about that, what else might he have lied about? Was their relationship nothing more than a ploy to get the wizard off the hook for his crimes during the war? Draco was always saying how he wanted his father free; could he be using Harry in order to bring about Lucius' freedom?

Thirdly, Draco had talked about wanting Harry to wait on him hand and foot. Harry was already doing half of the cooking and cleaning, while Kreacher was doing the other half, and Draco nothing. Did his husband really expect Harry to do more, even though he was the one who worked all day? All Draco did was sit and talk; it was he who should be doing more of the cleaning. Why couldn't his husband do a bit of cleaning while he talked? Or at the very least, clean up his mess afterwards?

Around two O'clock Harry realized he was hungry and stopped for a supersized grease filled lunch at the place on the corner. Draco hated greasy food, so it was a rare treat. After the meal, he returned to the park and continued to fume.

Then there were the facts that Harry had already known about to consider, such as that Draco was always leaving Eiona with his mother and never spending any time with her. Draco was pulling away from the Weasleys, no longer trying to be friendly with Harry's adopted family. Draco absolutely refused to allow Eiona to interact with Fleur and Victoire and had drastically cut down on visiting Dromeda and Teddy. When Draco did take Eiona to Dromeda's, he left the baby there with the elderly woman and went home to gossip with Pansy Bloody Parkinson.

Some of the things Harry was looking for in a husband was a man to take care of their child, accept his Weasley family, and spend time with his godson, which were all qualities Draco had had when they married, but lacked now.

Then there was Draco's ridiculous behavior. He was fine with Parkinson, but either crying or spacey with Harry. Even if Narcissa didn't think there was anything wrong with her son acting like a zombie when Harry was around, Harry did. He wanted a loving attentive husband, like the man Draco used to be. He didn't want to have to deal with any more of Draco's overreactions and fits of crying or zoning out. Draco hadn't even wanted to share a bed with him for the last two nights, for Merlin's sake!

Of course Draco would probably blame the non-existent concussion for his spacy behavior last night. The fact that Draco was going around telling everyone, including his mother, that he had a concussion when he didn't pissed Harry off to no end. The git should be grateful to Harry for saving him from falling off that railing, instead of complaining about a comparably insignificant bruise. What was a bruise in exchange for a life? Of course Draco would overreact and blame Harry for saving him. Who would Draco tell next about the pretend concussion? And why was Draco trying to make people feel sorry for him? Was Draco trying to turn people against Harry?

No, the situation was entirely intolerable as far as Harry was concerned. He'd spied on Draco and while he hadn't discovered cheating, what he found was still rather bad. After today, he was just a bit more convinced that he needed a divorce. But even with all of that, he wasn't certain and he definitely wasn't ready to admit that it was time for a divorce. After all, Draco wasn't cheating, so maybe he really did love Harry.

Harry needed to find out whether there was still something between him and Draco _before_ he made his decision on whether or not to ask for a divorce. Thus that evening he decided to ask someone to watch Eiona and try for one last night of passion. It was only four, but he decided to go home anyway and pretend he'd gotten off work a bit early. He apparated into the entry hall and went up the stairs, expecting to find Draco with Eiona. Only there was no sign of Eiona and Draco had gone back to bed.

Harry figured that Eiona was still at Cissy's, so he flooed over to Malfoy Manor. Sure enough, Eiona was there and Cissy was worried about Draco. Harry assured her that Draco was fine, just asleep. Then he asked her to watch his daughter for the night, so that he and Draco could have some romantic time to reconnect. She agreed, so he went back home to his husband.

Smoke was billowing out of the kitchen when Harry returned home. Kreacher's fry up was on fire, so Harry dashed into the kitchen to put out the flames. Kreacher was curled up on the rug like a dog, fast asleep and oblivious to the hazard he'd created. Harry left the old elf and disposed of the ruined dinner. He wasn't hungry anyway, having grabbed a large late lunch at the fast food stand by the park.

Harry went upstairs and found Draco still in bed. He removed his clothes and crawled into bed with Draco, pulling Draco into his arms. He placed kisses up and down Draco's neck and caressed Draco's body, doing his best to make a real effort to revive the missing passion. Draco had been putting on weight as of late, but it wasn't much and Harry was still more than attracted to him.

Draco started responding to Harry's touch, moaning and moving slightly. He was certain Harry was there touching him and that he should wake up, but he couldn't. It was like there was this impenetrable invisible force field keeping him down, under the haze of sleep. He grew hard, just like he would in any wet dream with Harry. He tried to move, to return Harry's caresses, but it felt like his arms and legs weighed a ton. He moved one leg slowly, to allow Harry access to his body, in short jerks, expending an insane amount of effort to do so. Then he fell a bit deeper into sleep and couldn't remember if he'd really moved or only dreamed he'd moved.

Harry undressed the both of them with a spell, encouraged by Draco's moans and by the fact that Draco had opened his legs. The only light in the room came in through the window and with the setting sun, the room was quickly becoming darker. In the dim light, Harry didn't even notice that Draco never opened his eyes. Besides, Draco often closed his eyes and just concentrated on the feel during sex.

Draco was hard against Harry and Harry rubbed their bodies together. Harry could hear Draco panting for breath and made out an open mouth in the dim light.

"Do you want this?" Harry asked.

When Draco's only response was a long moan, Harry took it as a yes. He quickly prepared Draco, before casting the usual contraceptive charm. Draco felt the same as before, if anything tighter from the lack of regular sex. That was another sign in favor of the hypothesis that Draco was not having an affair.

Harry couldn't remember when the last time they'd had sex was, but he knew it wasn't long after their anniversary, over two months ago. It was the longest they'd gone without being intimate since they'd gotten together after Draco's kidnapping. As such Harry really needed the release. He wanted to be close to Draco, to pour all of his remaining passion for the wizard into this coupling, so he lowered his body to Draco's, resting his head in the crook of Draco's neck.

The air smelled of sex and sweat and Harry could feel the heat radiating off of Draco's body and the pulse of Draco's blood through the thick vein on the side of Draco's neck. He could even feel the vibrations of Draco's moans.

Once Draco achieved orgasm, his wet dream ended and he fell so deep into sleep that he was dead to the world. His brain failed to process the fact what Harry was still doing to him.

When Harry finished, he spooned Draco for a bit, having turned his husband's limp body on his side. He thought at first that Draco was just out of it from being fucked so thoroughly; after all Draco had gone loopy from sex on their anniversary too. Then he realized that Draco had fallen back to sleep and mistook it as a good sign, thinking Draco had fallen asleep in his arms and that that meant Draco still loved him. He closed his eyes and fell asleep too.

Harry woke in the night to find himself naked and horny. Deciding another round was in order, he took Draco from behind, with Draco still lying on his side, meaning to wake Draco up with sex.

Draco woke up then. He hadn't eaten since tea with Pansy over twelve hours previously and then it had been only toast and ginger biscuits, so his head was foggy and he wasn't really processing what was happening. It felt good, so he let it happen, sticking out his arse to improve the angle. He felt pleasantly full and it sent exquisite tingles up his spine. He moaned loudly and turned over onto his stomach, to obtain some friction.

Draco's head was turned to the side, his eyes shining in the moonlight, and his lips pouting seductively as he gasped for breath. Harry leaned in and captured those plump lips in a fierce kiss. Draco responded to the kiss, molding his lips to Harry's and moaning into Harry's mouth. Draco's hands reached out on either side of his body, searching for Harry's arms. When Draco found them, he pulled them in under himself, encouraging Harry to wrap his arms around Draco's pliant body.

Harry held Draco's chest tightly to his own, feeling Draco's heart race under his fingers. Draco's hands were also underneath him and Harry falsely assumed they were on Draco's bits, but really they were instinctively cupped around Draco's expanding stomach, protecting something he didn't even know was there.

They came together. Harry was certain they were still one, because how else had they managed to cum together?

Harry closed his eyes and went back to sleep. Draco went to the loo, having only managed not to piss himself because his erection prevented it; his bladder that full. Then he climbed back into bed with Harry and went back to sleep, still light headed.

* * *

Author's Note: How do you think Draco should react when he wakes up this time? It always seems so sexy when someone wakes up their partner with sex, but the one time it happened to me, I couldn't wake up until like halfway through; did not turn out sexy at all.

Next chapter the topic of divorce will finally be discussed.

In other news, one of my other stories is coming to an end, which means, I get to start posting a new story (I'm one of those people who hate having too many stories in progress at one time). My new story is drama, romance, and adventure; Draco/Harry slash with mpreg of course! It'll have a war fought on a dragon reserve going on in the background, so there will be plenty of rampaging dragons and close calls, but it's mostly about Draco and his dragon mysticism religion. Draco is keeping secrets and Auror Harry is determined to uncover them in order to save Draco, by evacuating him from the war-zone. It's called Dragon Kissed and I just posted the first chapter!


	8. Chapter 8

Harry woke up a few hours later and went to work feeling happier than he had in a long time. If Draco wasn't having an affair and they still had passion in their bed, then maybe they could work through this? Maybe he could let Dobson come over during the day and clean, without getting rid of Kreacher. Kreacher had actually started a fire the night before and the kitchen ceiling had the scorch marks to prove it, so maybe it was time to bring in some help. Maybe then things would go back to normal with Draco.

Draco woke up naked that morning alone in his bed. His arse was sore and dripping with seamen. He wasn't yet awake enough to consider that, so instead he went down to the kitchen, where he found an actual breakfast waiting for him for once. He tried to sit down, but his bum hurt too much for that, so he stood and ate his eggs, bacon, and toast. It wasn't his ideal meal, because it was a bit greasy for his tastes, but he was just happy Harry had left it for him. He knew it was Harry's cooking, because it was Harry's favorite breakfast and lacking Kreacher's signature burnt edges.

With a large plate of food in his stomach, Draco began to think about just why his arse hurt so badly. There was a constant tingle in it, even when standing, as if he'd had rough sex last night. His hole was still leaking fluid into his knickers, further supporting the hypothesis that he'd had sex. He tried to remember last night, but all he could remember was taking a nap after Pansy left. He couldn't remember Harry or Eiona, the latter worrying him much more than the former.

Draco really hoped that it was at least Harry he'd had sex with, but finding his daughter was his top priority, so he apparated to the Manor. He found his mother, who assured him that Eiona was alright and that Harry had stopped by to ask her to watch their daughter. Not having seen his daughter at all the day before and hardly getting to spend time with her the last few days, he went to her now. He pulled her into his arms and told her how much he loved her and miraculously, the toddler stayed put for once.

Draco spent a few hours playing with his daughter, singing her children's songs and breaking out the finger paint. They had a lot of fun and it was all cleaned up by the Manor elves, who were neither too old nor too useless to work. They had a nice time together.

After a while Draco decided he really did need a bath. He stunk and his arse was sticky, still oozing into his knockers. He left Eiona with his mother and returned to Grimmauld Place to bathe, soaking his sore bum in the warm soapy water.

It was lying there in the bath that Draco began to think about what must've happened the night before. He'd been asleep and he had memories of a sex dream with Harry. In his dream too he'd been asleep, while Harry was fucking him, and he couldn't wake up. He decided that the dream must've been real. Harry had decided to fuck him while he was asleep, likely so that Harry wouldn't have to deal with him. Harry always wanted sex and didn't care how Draco felt, so he must've took it. The only question was had Harry given him something to keep him asleep?

To find out, Draco decided to brew a few potions. First he brewed one to determine who the sperm had come from, using a sample from his soiled knickers. It was Harry's, just as Draco thought. That was both relieving and disconcerting. Relieving, because it meant he hadn't been raped by some stranger. Disconcerting, because it lent support to his dream. The only thing left to do was brew a potion to determine if there were any potions in his system, such as one that might render him unable to wake.

Draco was still at his cauldron when Harry came home. Harry didn't notice him at first, walking right by the closed door to the potion's lab when he went to check on Kreacher and dinner. Kreacher was asleep with his nose in a pan of chicken he was breading. It was already practically time for dinner, which meant that there was no way the chicken would be ready in time. Besides, the last thing Harry wanted was another fire.

"Kreacher, wake up!" Harry called.

"Sorry Master. Kreacher is very sorry," Kreacher muttered groggily.

"Scrap the chicken; I want sandwiches for supper. Cold cuts and cheese with veggies. From now on no more things that have to be cooked on the stove; I don't want any more fires."

"Yes Master. Right away Master," Kreacher said.

Then Harry went in search of Draco, but couldn't find him or Eiona. He figured Cissy still had the toddler, so he went to the Manor. Cissy did in fact still have Eiona and said Draco had spent the morning there with the child, which Harry found to be a pleasant surprise. Was Draco taking an interest in their daughter again? But if so, why hadn't he retrieved her in time for supper? Where was he now? Cissy insisted he'd gone back to Grimmauld Place, so maybe Harry had missed him or else Draco had lied to his mother about where he was going.

Having retrieved Eiona, Harry flooed home and found a spread of edible sandwiches courtesy of Kreacher on the table. He sat Eiona in her highchair and handed her one, cutting it into little toddler sized squares. Then he summoned the milk and made her a sippy cup, before sitting down to eat himself.

"Shall Kreacher summon Master Draco for supper?" Kreacher asked.

"Is he here then?" Harry asked.

"Yes. Master Draco has been in the potions lab all afternoon."

"Thanks Kreacher, but I'll fetch him myself. You keep an eye on Eiona," Harry said, getting up to see for himself just what Draco was brewing.

There were a number of potions they used on a regular basis that Draco could be brewing, any of which would please Harry. Draco hadn't brewed in a while and ever since Lucius had gotten sick, Harry had been buying potions to supplement Draco's reduced production. Brewing again showed effort and initiative on Draco's part, which his husband hadn't shown in months. And if it were something for Eiona, such as teething potion or baby fever reducer, then it would show an interest in their daughter too, which would please him even more.

But when Harry opened the door to the potions lab and recognized the potion brewing in Draco's cauldron, he knew it wasn't one of Draco's usuals. It was a potion Harry used at work with the Aurors when they needed to determine which potions were in someone's system.

"Why are you brewing that?" Harry asked.

"Er…" Draco replied, not knowing what to say. Should he tell Harry what he suspected? That would probably anger Harry and when Harry got angry, Draco tended not to remember what happened.

"Draco, answer me," Harry insisted.

"My bum hurts…" Draco said looking down at the cauldron, blushing.

"Then why not make a pain potion or an anal soothing potion?"

"Because I've been feeling weird and I wanted to make sure there wasn't something in my system."

"Weird how?"

"I don't remember the last three nights," Draco admitted softly, not making eye contact.

"You don't remember the last three nights?" Harry asked incredulously; how could Draco not remember them making love last night?

Draco nodded. "Ever since the night I hit my head."

"So you're overreacting over that bump on your head again. Why are you checking for potions? I thought you were playing up the pretend concussion route?"

"The spell said I didn't have a concussion. The medi-wizard said that even if I did, I should be fine by now. I just thought it was a good idea to check what's in my system."

"Why, because you think I drugged you?" Harry's tone was incredulous again.

"Or Kreacher," Draco added. Who knows what the elf put in his food.

"You are unbelievable Draco! You know what? I want you to finish making that potion and take it in front of me. I want to know what you've been taking. It better be some good shite to explain your behavior. I'm going back to have supper with our daughter. Join us if you like."

Harry turned and left. Draco was hungry, so he cast a stasis charm on his potion and joined his family for a relatively nice meal. They were quiet, all except Eiona, who was babbling nonstop, a few of her words even understandable.

After a couple of sandwiches, Draco went back to the lab and finished his potion. It was almost bedtime by the time it was done and he thought Harry might already be putting their daughter to bed, but Harry wasn't. Harry was playing with Eiona in her room, having cleaned up the mess for once.

"I finished it," Draco said nervously walking into the room.

"Okay, take it. Let's see what you're on," Harry replied, looking up from Eiona.

Draco took it and revealed that he didn't have any potions in his system.

"Unbelievable. There's nothing wrong with you. This is just another case of you overreacting. I swear you're a hypochondriac."

"I'm tired. I'm going to bed," Draco said stepping forward to give his daughter a kiss on the head and saying goodnight, before leaving the room.

Harry put Eiona to sleep and then went to his room, only to find Draco not there. He could've sworn his husband said he was going to bed and the fact that the wizard wasn't in their bed made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Thus he decided to go looking for Draco.

It didn't take Harry long to find Draco this time, having found his husband in the third place he looked: in Draco's old bedroom from when he'd first taken Draco in. It was more of a storage room now, piled high with boxes of stuff and no longer used baby items. There was barely a path to the bed, which was still half covered in a large pile of Eiona's old clothes.

"Draco! What are you doing in here?" Harry asked angrily, already knowing the answer. Draco wanted to sleep alone.

"Going to bed," Draco answered, sitting up.

"Why won't you sleep in my bed with me anymore?"

"Because I'm tired of not remembering what happened and waking up with things I can't explain."

"What things?"

"The bruise on my head and your sperm in my arse for two. I also don't know why you made me sleep on the floor the night before last."

"I didn't make you sleep on the floor. I put you in the bed with me and you crawled out. You got the bruise on your head when you bumped it while I was pulling you off of the ledge on the third floor balcony; you're very welcome for saving your life. And the sperm is from when we had sex last night, or don't you remember that either?"

"You know I don't. I was asleep."

"How could you possibly have been asleep? You were moaning and responding like you were awake."

"I had a wet dream, but I couldn't wake up. I tried, but I couldn't."

"What about the second time? I clearly saw your eyes open and you were definitely awake."

"I didn't know there was a second time…"

"Of course you don't. The one night we finally get things back on track and you don't remember it. You were asleep the whole time. Just when I think there might be something left of our marriage to save and it turns out to be nothing more than a dream.

"Why, because of the sex? Is that all our marriage is to you?"

"It seems that way."

They were both quiet for several minutes while Draco cried and Harry bucked up the courage to say what he had to say. Finally, when he couldn't bear the sound of Draco's sobs for another minute, he said, "Draco, I want a divorce."

"What?"

"Neither of us are happy. We'd be better off, the both of us, if we were apart. You can take Eiona to your mother's. I don't care what you do with yourself. I'm going to talk to a lawyer in the morning."

"No, you can't be serious."

"I am very serious Draco. It's over. Goodnight."

Harry turned and walked out the door heading to his bedroom, Draco following after. Once inside his room, Harry turned around and asked, "What Draco? It's late, what do you want now?"

"What about to death do us part? What about our marriage vows? What about when I promised to love you forever and you me?" Draco's pleading voice cracked towards the end, tears running down his face.

"We are too different. It could never have worked."

"But I love you." Draco fell to his knees in front of Harry.

"And I can't stand you. If you don't go back to your own room, I'm going to fetch your mum to deal with you."

"No, please Harry."

"Come on, back to bed with you," Harry said, leading Draco back into the other bedroom. Once there, he let go of Draco, pushing Draco's hands off his body. "Stay."

Harry left, but Draco didn't stay. Draco went to Eiona's room, where he fetched his daughter and brought her back to his room so that he had someone to cuddle. Eiona fussed a bit at being moved, but fell back to sleep quickly.

* * *

Author's Note: Next chapter Draco moves into the Manor and Harry goes to see a lawyer; I think it's the turning point in the story, after which Harry will begin to realize what an idiot he is.

I would like to remind everyone that this story is still very much a work in progress. While I have the outline for the first half of the story and very rough drafts for the next few chapters, the end still very much needs to be worked out. Your reviews provide important feedback and inspiration for writing. Even if it's just a few words or your random thoughts on the story, they help me brain storm. So Please Review!


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who reviewed!

* * *

Eiona wasn't in her crib in the morning, so Cissy knocked on Harry's door, calling, "Harry?"

"Just a minute," Harry called, scrambling for his robes, which he quickly flung over his head. Once he was decent enough, he opened the door. "Yes Cissy?"

"Do you have Eiona? She's not in her crib."

"No…Where could see be? I left her in her crib!"

"Is Draco still asleep in there?"

"No…er, actually he slept in the other room."

"The storage room with no windows?"

"Yes…It's not all that bad. It was a real bedroom before we started piling things in there."

"Right, well I'll just check there for my granddaughter then," Cissy said, turning and walking away towards the other room.

Harry followed a few paces after, wanting to make sure the child was found. Sure enough, Eiona was sitting up in bed patting a still sleeping Draco and babbling.

Cissy retrieved Eiona and flooed to her house. That settled, Harry finished getting ready for work.

Draco woke up alone, which of itself wasn't that unusual. What was different was the gaping hole in his chest that felt like Harry had ripped out his heart and stomped on it. His eyes were red rimmed from crying and he couldn't stop the tears from falling again now that he was awake. He took a long bath and then cried himself to sleep in Harry's bed afterward.

During his lunch hour, Harry went to speak to a lawyer about drawing up divorce papers. He wanted to get the divorce over with as soon as possible, but unfortunately his lawyer informed him that there was a long process to go through, which typically took between three months and a year or longer, depending on whether both parties agreed or not. Harry thought it was a bit absurd that a divorce could take longer than his marriage had lasted. He left the office determined to convince Draco to accept the divorce and not drag it out.

After work, Harry stopped by Cissy's, to explain to her why he'd asked her son for a divorce. He'd assumed that Eiona would already be gone, because Draco should've already picked her up, but she was still there. He'd also assumed that Draco would've already informed Cissy about the divorce, but that assumption was wrong too, because she was clueless. Thus he was left with no choice but to tell the woman himself and try to convince her that it was for the best. After all, if there was anyone who could convince Draco not to fight it, it was Cissy.

"So, will you ask Draco not to fight this?" Harry asked, holding Eiona in his arms.

"No. I will have to talk to my son first and see what he has to say. I reject all of your arguments against him being the cause of the problems. I may, however, concede that it's in Draco's best interest to get away from you. You have proven yourself to be less than the caring husband I'd hoped you'd be. I am appalled by you Harry James Potter. Your mother and father, were they alive, would be ashamed of you today. I feel I must warn you, that if you hurt my son again—if he has so much as a scratch on him—you will have to deal with my wrath and it will not be pretty," Cissy replied harshly.

That seemed about the best he could do with his mother-in-law, so Harry decided to leave it at that and flooed home with his daughter. Draco was asleep still in Harry's bed when Harry arrived.

"What are you doing in here?" Harry asked, Eiona still in his arms.

"Huh?" Draco asked groggily.

"I said, what are you still doing in here? I think you should pack up your things and move back in with your mother."

"You can't mean that."

"I do and I can. I started the paperwork today. We are officially getting a divorce. I told your mother; she's expecting you."

Draco hadn't eaten anything all day, too depressed to think about food. His stomach lurched at the word, "paperwork," and heaved at the words, "officially," and "divorce." By the time Harry finished the sentence, Draco was puking into his hands and running towards the toilet. He emptied his stomach contents, which were composed solely of stomach acid, into the toilet and then continued to dry heave. It was the first time he'd thrown up since he gave birth to Eiona.

After setting Eiona down in her room, Harry following Draco into the toilets. "What's wrong with you now?" Harry asked exasperated.

Draco was in no state to answer, because he couldn't stop his heaving.

"Are you sick or something?" Harry asked.

Draco nodded into the bowl.

"Well go to your mum's and she'll take care of you. I'm tired of dealing with you. We're getting a divorce, so you're not my problem anymore."

Draco's stomach gave another harsh lurch at that and another tablespoon of stomach acid dribbled out. He spat it out in the bowl and whispered, "Please no."

"Right, so I'll pack you a bag and you will go to your mum's," Harry said, turning his back on Draco and going to do as he said.

Kreacher had a rare bit of lucidity at that moment and brought Draco a cup of anti-nausea tea and a small plate of biscuits and even toast. Draco took them gratefully, slumping down against the bathroom wall to eat and drink. Afterwards he felt sufficiently recovered to leave the loo. He found Harry in their bedroom, packing his things into a rucksack.

"Harry, you can't seriously mean you want a divorce. I love you and I thought you loved me too," Draco said, coming in and sitting on the bed.

"I loved you, but it wasn't enough. I'm not happy Draco," Harry replied, going to Draco's wardrobe and pulling out robes to shove into the rucksack.

"Can't we give it another try? For Ipheion's sake. I can't even remember what I did wrong." Draco looked up quickly, hoping to catch Harry's eye, but when he didn't, he looked back down at his hands in his lap.

"No, I tried to give us another try two nights ago and you didn't remember it."

"You didn't wake me up! I should be the one mad over that and you don't see me asking for a divorce, do you?"

"Why should you be mad?"

"You fucked me while I was asleep for Salazar's sake! I know you're a sex fiend, but you could at least wake me up! I would've given you what you wanted. I was upset with you, but I would've let you if you needed it that badly."

"I'm a sex fiend? Now it's my problem is it?"

Draco's stomach lurched again and he put his hand up to his mouth, but nothing came out. "Could you stop being so angry with me?" he pleaded.

"Right, because you're sick. I must watch what I say because poor Draco's a hypochondriac."

"I _am_ sick. Something's really wrong with me. I've been sleeping all the time and tired when I wake up. I keep forgetting whole blocks of time and now I'm sick to my stomach. You're trying to divorce me because you don't want to deal with me when I'm sick."

"No, there is nothing wrong with you. You make yourself sick. Here, I packed some of your clothes. It will be enough for the night and you can send your elf for the rest in the morning," Harry said, thrusting the rucksack towards Draco.

"Please don't do this Harry, I'm begging you. I'll go tonight, if that's what you want, but please don't file for divorce. At least let me see a healer first. If healer Smith says I'm really sick then you have to believe me that this isn't my fault."

"If he actually finds something wrong with you and fixes it, I'll consider giving you another chance. Now please go before your mother comes after me."

Draco nodded. "Where's Eiona's bag?"

"She's not going. I'll drop her off at your mum's in the morning or she'll come and pick her up, like she usually does."

"You said I could take my baby with me. You s-said you wouldn't take her a-a-w-" sob, "way f-f-from m-me," Draco stuttered out through his suddenly pouring tears and sobs.

"But I didn't get to see her all day. You can have her in the morning."

"I didn't even get to h-hold her today." Draco finished the sentence with a huge uncontrollable sob, mucus dripping disgustingly out his nose.

Harry passed over a handkerchief, the only kind thing he'd done all night. "Fine, you can take her, but I want visitation in the evenings after I get home from work. You can have your little social calls in the evening and spend your mornings with Eiona if you want to see her so badly."

Draco nodded, snatched up his bag, and quickly went to the nursery before Harry changed his mind. He shoved a few things in the nappy bag somewhat randomly, grabbed up his daughter, and rushed to the floo in the drawing room. There was a fireplace in her room, but the only one connected to the floo network was in the drawing room. He was just about to throw in the floo powder when Harry called out, "Wait."

"Yes?" Draco asked hopefully. Had Harry changed his mind? Was he going to ask them to stay?

"Wait, I want to say farewell to Eiona," Harry said, holding out his arms for the child.

"You'll give her back?" Draco asked nervously.

"Yes, I'll give her back, even though I don't think you're a fit parent. Your mum is fit enough, so as long as you stay with her, you can keep Eiona."

Draco nodded and handed the toddler over. Harry kissed the blond curls on Eiona's head and promised her he'd see her tomorrow, before handing her back. Then Draco flooed to the Manor.

Cissy was there to wipe away the tears and tend to her son. She did the one thing Harry so often failed to do: she fed Draco a proper supper. She took care of her granddaughter and comforted her son. Through the tears, he told her everything that had happened and how Harry was leaving him. She cursed the idiot and told Draco he was better off without Potter, but he didn't believe her. He didn't know how he could ever be okay without Harry, because without his husband, his heart was breaking, shattering into a million pieces.

In the morning, Cissy scheduled an appointment for Draco with Healer Smith. She woke Draco in time for lunch, so that he had the afternoon to play with his daughter. Then when Harry came in the evening, she handed the toddler over, saying only, "You better bring my granddaughter back tonight before bedtime," and "I don't know how you sleep at night after what you've done to my son's heart."

Harry didn't really know what to say to that, so he nodded and left. He flooed to the Burrow, so that he could explain to his pseudo-parents what had happened. He wanted to tell them he was getting a divorce before they found out from the papers.

It was only Molly, Arthur, Hermione, and Ron for dinner that night, Ginny having gone out on a date. Ron was the most supportive, while Molly and Hermione ganged up on Harry, insisting that he needed to give Draco another try. They didn't seem to believe that Draco had made himself sick, instead assuming the best of the wizard and that Draco was legitimately ill.

Throughout the evening, Arthur was the quiet one, tending to Eiona while the others talked. He said only, "Harry, this is a very serious matter. You need to think long and hard before you come to a decision. There is a lovely little girl trapped in the middle of this. You owe it to her to make certain that this is what you want before you go through with it."

That was probably the best advice Harry got that night, because Molly and Hermione were so much on Draco's side that he couldn't even listen to their arguments. Why was it that all the women in his life were taking Draco's side? He'd even gotten a howler from Dromeda while at work, having apparently been informed of the situation by her sister.

* * *

Author's Note: I know a lot of you want to slap Harry silly right about now, but I don't see that happening just yet. Draco still isn't thinking straight and Cissy is too reserved. We'll have to wait until her mother Druella next encounters him :)

Draco's healer appointment is next and he will finally find out what's wrong with him…

Please Review!


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